Joe Smith (basketball)

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For other people named Joe Smith, see Joe Smith.

Joseph Leynard "Joe" Smith (born July 26, 1975 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. His height is listed as 6'10".

Smith attended Maury High School and played at the University of Maryland. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors as the first pick of the 1995 NBA Draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1995-96.

Smith is a power forward. He has played for various teams in his career, including the Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and the Milwaukee Bucks. His career averages are 12.6 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.

In 1998, Smith was involved in a salary cap-tampering scandal involving Timberwolves executive Kevin McHale. Smith was allegedly promised a future multimillion dollar deal if he signed with the team for below market value, allowing the team to make some additional player moves in the short term. The league later found out about this violation and voided the last year of the contract, also severely punishing the Timberwolves by taking away five first round draft picks and fining the team $3.5 million.^[1] Smith became a free agent and signed with the Pistons, returning to Minnesota the following year.

On August 10, 2006, the Bucks traded Smith to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Ruben Patterson.^[2]