Saberestar wrote:AtheJ415 wrote:Saberestar wrote:The problem is that he is not 6'7 or 6'8 like Green is. Zhaire is really small (6'2.75 without shoes)...he is 6'4 at most. He reminds me of KJ Daniels.
He is long, but that is not gonna be enough to play around the rim at the next level. He needs to improve a lot his release (too slow) and his ball handling. And a lot of more things...he is raw but has potential.
I agree. I do not want the Suns picking him at #16.
From Stepien just for everybody saying he is too small, not a good defender, and has a broken jumper:
Aggressive defender with quick feet and plus length. Can body his man because he is quick enough to stick with him wherever he tries to go.
Incredible defensive versatility. Has defended every sort of player for Texas Tech this season, from Jevon Carter to Mohamed Bamba.
Tough player who battles through screens, fights on switches, attacks contact, and closes out hard.
Promising mechanics on jumper with compact release and up-and-down form. Doesn’t rely on forward momentum.
Also, he's 6'5" in shoes with a 6'11" wingspan. That's not elite height for a 3 but fine for a 1 or 2. And the wingspan does mean he can guard 1-3.
That is not true. He is 6'2.75 without shoes so AT MOST he can be 6'4 in shoes.
Or is he gonna play in high heels?
He plays around the rim so it is really important his size.
He guarded Mo Bamba for god's sake. Barkley said in his own book that he was 6'4.5" with an average wingspan for his size.
PJ Tucker had no problem playing around the rim as a smaller guy including in this playoffs and he is 6'5" with a 7' wingspan. Zhaire Smith is 6'4" to 6'5" (I've seen both on reputable draft sites, draftexpress has him 6'5" right now) with a 6'10" wingspan as well and a hell of a lot more athleticism than Tucker (33 inch standing vertical and 41.5 inch max vert).
Point being, I dispute that 1 inch means a player can't guard one position or not particularly when we are discussing NBA defense which is played with your hands and feet and you don't contest shots with your face. His wingspan is plenty big enough to guard 1-3 so it's a moot point, and the Suns have already said during his workout that they believe he can play defense on 1-3.
Second, he does play around the hoop but plenty of players smaller than him with less athletic and physical gifts have been able to do that.
Third, there is not reason to believe that he can't play on the perimeter, for instance standing in the corner and hitting the open corner 3, while cutting to the hoop for dunks and layups off the ball. You are assuming he can't hit an NBA corner 3 with nothing to really speak to that aside from that he didn't take a ton. Fact is, he only took open 3s in college and he hit them at a great clip, and the corner 3 is not that much different from a college 3. Nobody is expecting him to be running our offense. Booker, Jackson, and Ayton should be the ones that the offense runs through anyways. We don't want or need an Aaron Holiday type to take the ball out of their hands.
