The San Antonio Silver Stars have announced the acquisition of Tangela Smith from the Indiana Fever in exchange for Roneeka Hodges.
"We are pleased to be able to acquire Tangela," Hughes said. "She is one of the best 3-point shot makers the WNBA has seen. She also brings rebounding length and great versatility to our team. We want to thank Roneeka for all she did for the Silver Stars during her two seasons and wish her well."
Although San Antonio was an about average 3-point shooting team last season (35.6% was 8th in the league, but .3% above league average), rebounding is a dire need for a team that came in dead last in rebounding percentage and gave up the second most second chance points in the league.
Smith is still a solid 3-point shooter hitting right around her career average at 34%, which could help the Silver Stars quite a bit offensively: Smith gives them another post player who can spread the court offensively and pull opposing players out from around the basket, which opens driving (and kick out) lanes for guards like Becky Hammon, Jia Perkins, or Danielle Robinson.
Yet while rebounding is a dire need - especially with the departure of Ruth Riley, their second-leading defensive rebounder by percentage - the question might be how well the 6'3" Smith actually helps to fill that need.
Unfortunately, Smith's rebounding numbers have declined over the last few seasons, hitting a career-low (8.9% total rebounding percentage) with the Fever last season. And compared to Riley, the biggest difference between the two is on the defensive boards where Smith's 12.3% defensive rebounding percentage pales in comparison to Riley's 19.3%.
For the Fever, Hodges is a player whose minutes were cut by more than half on a guard-heavy roster last season. Still, in limited minutes she shot a career-high 40% from the 3-point line and had a 59.8% true shooting percentage. But based on their statement, this was also about freeing cap space, which might be more significant.
Statistics for Tangela Smith via Basketball Reference
Statistics for Roneeka Hodges via Basketball Reference