Zach LaVine vs. J.R. Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of J.R. Smith and Zach LaVine, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Zach LaVine played 12 years in the NBA, 4 less than J.R. Smith, who played 16. Zach LaVine had the first of his seasons in 2014-15, while J.R. Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Zach LaVine	J.R. Smith
Season	2014-15	2004-05
Team	Minnesota Timberwolves	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	77	24.7	10.1	0.4	2.4	2.8	3.6	0.7	0.1	2.5	2.1	3.7	8.8	.422	0.7	2.2	.341	1.9	2.3	.842
difference:	+1	+0.2	+0.2	+0.1	+0.9	+0.8	+1.7			-1.1	-0.3	+0.2	+1.0	+.028	+0.4	+1.5	+.053	+0.4	+0.2	+.153
J.R. Smith	76	24.5	10.3	0.5	1.5	2.0	1.9	0.7	0.1	1.4	1.8	3.9	9.8	.394	1.1	3.7	.288	1.5	2.1	.689
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Zach LaVine nor J.R. Smith played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 7
	Zach LaVine	J.R. Smith
Season	2020-21	2010-11
Team	Chicago Bulls	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	58	35.1	27.4	0.6	4.4	5.0	4.9	0.8	0.5	3.5	2.4	9.8	19.4	.507	3.4	8.2	.419	4.4	5.1	.849
difference:	+21	+10.2	+15.1		+0.9	+0.9	+2.7	+0.4	+0.3	-2.2	-0.2	+5.5	+9.5	+.072	+1.8	+4.2	+.029	+2.3	+2.3	+.111
J.R. Smith	79	24.9	12.3	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.2	1.2	0.2	1.3	2.2	4.3	9.9	.435	1.6	4.0	.390	2.1	2.8	.738
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	5	15.2	9.8	0.2	1.8	2.0	1.0	0.4	0.0	1.6	1.6	3.2	9.0	.356	1.8	4.2	.429	1.6	2.2	.727

Season 8
	Zach LaVine	J.R. Smith
Season	2021-22	2011-12
Team	Chicago Bulls	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	67	34.7	24.4	0.3	4.3	4.6	4.5	0.6	0.3	2.6	1.8	8.4	17.7	.476	2.8	7.1	.389	4.8	5.6	.853
difference:	+32	+7.1	+11.9	+0.5	+1.2	+0.7	+2.1	+0.9	+0.1	-1.3	-0.7	+3.7	+6.1	+.069	+0.9	+1.6	+.042	+3.7	+4.0	+.144
J.R. Smith	35	27.6	12.5	0.8	3.1	3.9	2.4	1.5	0.2	1.3	2.5	4.7	11.6	.407	1.9	5.5	.347	1.1	1.6	.709
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	4	38.3	19.3	0.0	5.3	5.3	6.0	0.8	0.3	3.0	2.3	6.8	15.8	.429	2.3	6.0	.375	3.5	3.8	.933
difference:	+1	+3.3	+7.1	+0.4	+3.1	+2.7	+3.8	+0.4	+0.1	-0.8	-1.5	+2.0	+0.6	+.113	+1.3	+0.4	+.196	+1.9	+2.2	+.067
J.R. Smith	5	35.0	12.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.2	1.2	0.2	2.2	3.8	4.8	15.2	.316	1.0	5.6	.179	1.6	1.6	1.000

Season 9
	Zach LaVine	J.R. Smith
Season	2022-23	2012-13
Team	Chicago Bulls	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	-	Sixth Man of the Year
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	77	35.9	24.8	0.5	3.9	4.5	4.2	0.9	0.2	2.5	2.1	8.7	18.0	.485	2.6	7.1	.375	4.7	5.6	.848
difference:	+3	+2.4	+6.7	+0.3	+0.6	+0.8	+1.5	+0.4	+0.1	-0.8	-0.7	+2.1	+2.4	+.063	+0.7	+1.6	+.019	+1.7	+1.7	+.086
J.R. Smith	80	33.5	18.1	0.8	4.5	5.3	2.7	1.3	0.3	1.7	2.8	6.6	15.6	.422	1.9	5.5	.356	3.0	3.9	.762
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	11	31.9	14.3	0.5	4.2	4.7	1.4	1.0	0.5	1.8	2.5	4.9	14.8	.331	1.6	6.0	.273	2.8	3.9	.721

Season 12
	Zach LaVine	J.R. Smith
Season	2025-26	2015-16
Team	Sacramento Kings	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	22	33.5	20.6	0.3	2.8	3.1	2.3	0.8	0.2	2.2	2.2	7.3	15.0	.486	2.8	7.1	.389	3.2	3.7	.866
difference:	+55	+2.8	+8.2	+0.3	+0.5	+0.3	+0.6	+0.3	+0.1	-1.4	-0.4	+2.7	+4.0	+.071	+0.2	+0.5	+.011	+2.6	+2.8	+.232
J.R. Smith	77	30.7	12.4	0.6	2.3	2.8	1.7	1.1	0.3	0.8	2.6	4.6	11.0	.415	2.6	6.6	.400	0.6	0.9	.634
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Zach LaVine	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
J.R. Smith	21	34.8	11.5	0.3	2.9	3.2	1.4	1.2	0.2	0.5	2.6	3.9	9.0	.436	3.1	7.2	.430	0.6	1.0	.619