Nick Smith Jr.

[EvanZ]

No Nick Smith thread yet? I'm not sure where I'm at with him yet. Reminds me so much of Jordan Poole, but not quite as fast I think. I just don't know how much you can value this archetype unless he really shows more passing imo. I like Black more in a vacuum although I assume NBA teams will see Smith as the higher upside "star" potential.

[Funcrusher]

No Nick Smith thread yet? I'm not sure where I'm at with him yet. Reminds me so much of Jordan Poole, but not quite as fast I think. I just don't know how much you can value this archetype unless he really shows more passing imo. I like Black more in a vacuum although I assume NBA teams will see Smith as the higher upside "star" potential.

Love Smith, thing that separates him from Poole imo is that he can potentially be a plus (even if a relatively slight plus) defensively and just seems more active and instinctive on that end. Not really showing great vision at this stage as a playmaker but I think there's a foundational baseline there to work with, particularly given his age, and beyond that what gives me hope is just how willing a passer he looks, he doesn't make super advanced reads like i said but he doesn't overdribble or force shots often and has an innate sense of when to move the rock and relocate off ball. Not dissimilar from Poole now but I like i said i also look at the fact that he's 18 and imo considerably more polished offensively than Poole was at this stage. Have him at the top of my 3rd tier after tier wemby and tier 2 (Scoot and Amen)

[Braggins]

He looks straight up bad on defense to me so far. In the two games Ive watched hes let random college guards easily get to the rim against him quite a few times and has almost always looked like the weakest defensive link on the floor for Arkansas. He looks smaller than advertised (more like 6'3" barefoot) and hes not a plus athlete. He has a pretty good wingspan for his height, but I'm still not buying him as a positive defender in the NBA at this point.

[buzzkilloton]

Looks good to me esp for only being 4 games off of a knee injury. Hes really smooth and crafty. I do want to see him hit that 3pter consistently over the course of the season strokes nice so it should fall. He can play off ball no problem and that floater is like best you'll see.

All that said hes still a smaller combo guard. With Whitmore and the Thompson twins there its gonna be tough for him to hold in the top 5. Still a long way to go but might be more of a top 8 guy when its all said and done rather then expected top 5.

[Braggins]

So far from this class I've watched Wemby, Scoot, Cam Whitmore, Anthony Black, Nick Smith Jr, Brandon Miller, Jarace Walker, and Cason Wallace. Of those players Nick Smith Jr has been the most disappointing and I lean towards ranking him last of the bunch. I don't see his game translating well to the NBA. Undersized SG with mediocre athleticism, mediocre offensive skill level, and bad defense.

He hasn't been able to create his own shot against college defenses. He doesn't have a good first step and his handle is meh. He has touch on floaters, but a lot of his in-between shots are closely contested because he doesn't create separation and end up looking really bad. His outside shot looks like it could have some potential, but hes not shooting well so far and has some kind of bad misses. He also has some obvious technical flaws with his form, as he has tendencies to twist his legs and contort his body for no reason even on set shots. He hasn't shown particular good vision, even if he occasional makes a nice find.

This last game was the first time he even put up a good/efficient box score line, but he got 2 baskets off easy layups from backdoor cuts, 1 from a wide open dunk created by an insane Anthony Black steal + pass, and 1 off a transition layup, which accounts for 4 of his 7 field goals. Of the other 3 shots he made I remember one was a contested long two that he rattled in after failing to get by his man, one was an open floater that I think might have been assisted, and the 3rd was a spot up 3pt shot. His success rate at creating his own offense in this last game was still bad and thats supposed to be what makes him an NBA prospect.

He was billed as having some two-way potential, but his defense doesn't look good at all. Hes not 6'5". Hes scrawny, but also doesn't move his feet all that well. I've seen way too many instances in a couple games of no-name colleges guards just going straight to the rim against him. Hes not getting hardly any steals or blocks and hes not rebounding much at all.

Its obviously really early and hes returning from an injury, so this could be premature negativity, but my initial impression is that hes going to struggle in the NBA because the athleticism and physicality is going to be an issue for him and he hasn't shown the skill level needed to overcome this yet. He really needs to start knocking down a lot of outside shots and showing some better defensive flashes imo.

[The-Power]

RE: Poll. Black, pretty easily. He has his issues (well, mainly one) but I have little doubt that he'll help some good team win games and his overall profile is just more intriguing.

I can see the Poole comparisons for Smith Jr. But Poole very much progressed well in the NBA. He became an efficient scorer and showed clear progress as a playmaker. If either aspect is just a little worse, that hurts a player with this profile a lot because the margin for error is small. And the reward isn't all that great relative to the risk in terms of high lottery pick. Also, Poole has clear defensive shortcomings but I actually think he looked better than Smith Jr. in college (and has slightly better physical tools, too) – which isn't a great sign. Smith Jr. will have to dig in a lot more on that end in the NBA if he wants to succeed.

[Catchall]

I want a bit more athleticism and physical presence from a guy I'm drafting top 5. Nick Smith is a very advanced and versatile player, however. He can play on the ball or off, and does some things that remind me of Jason (Jet) Terry and maybe a bit of Nick Van Exel. Older comps, I know.

He's going to be a good NBA player. I just don't know if he's the guy who runs your team, or if he's the guy that dominates with the 2nd unit.

I don't know where I stand on Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. I need to feel confidence that either or both of them have the mentality and discipline to truly be a lead guard. If they don't, and they're really secondary initiators, then I start to become just as interested in Keyonte George and Jett Howard, whom I think has more ability as an initiator than he's shown so far.

[The-Power]

I don't know where I stand on Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. I need to feel confidence that either or both of them have the mentality and discipline to truly be a lead guard. If they don't, and they're really secondary initiators, then I start to become just as interested in Keyonte George and Jett Howard, whom I think has more ability as an initiator than he's shown so far.

Lead Guard as in primary playmaker or go-to player on offense? Because Anthony Black, to me, clearly looks like he could be a primary playmaker on some team but less likely to be a primary scorer. Nick Smith Jr. is pretty much the opposite. I think all of the four players you mentioned have different profiles in the NBA.

[Catchall]

I don't know where I stand on Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. I need to feel confidence that either or both of them have the mentality and discipline to truly be a lead guard. If they don't, and they're really secondary initiators, then I start to become just as interested in Keyonte George and Jett Howard, whom I think has more ability as an initiator than he's shown so far.

Lead Guard as in primary playmaker or go-to player on offense? Because Anthony Black, to me, clearly looks like he could be a primary playmaker on some team but less likely to be a primary scorer. Nick Smith Jr. is pretty much the opposite. I think all of the four players you mentioned have different profiles in the NBA.

Lead guard as in can run the offense. Anthony Black has drawn some comparisons to Josh Giddey as a big point guard, but Arkansas has been playing him increasingly off the ball and using him as a secondary playmaker. He'd need to be committed to playing on the ball as a primary initiator in the NBA in order for his size and skills to really make a difference. If he's going to play off the ball, then there are other guys who can do that as well as he can.

Keyonte George, for example, should be able to space the floor, attack closeouts and secondary playmake. He's the guy in this draft that reminds me a bit of Tyrese Maxey. Jett Howard is a solid 6'7" and can create with the ball in his hands well enough to be a secondary creator (think Gordon Hayward or maybe Tyler Herro).

If Anthony Black isn't going to be a lead initiator, his appeal drops. I think this is why some mock drafts have him in the late lottery (e.g., 12-14 range). If he is a bonafide primary initiator, then he's a top 6 or 7 pick.

[The-Power]

Lead guard as in can run the offense. Anthony Black has drawn some comparisons to Josh Giddey as a big point guard, but Arkansas has been playing him increasingly off the ball and using him as a secondary playmaker. He'd need to be committed to playing on the ball as a primary initiator in the NBA in order for his size and skills to really make a difference. If he's going to play off the ball, then there are other guys who can do that as well as he can.

Keyonte George, for example, should be able to space the floor, attack closeouts and secondary playmake. He's the guy in this draft that reminds me a bit of Tyrese Maxey. Jett Howard is a solid 6'7" and can create with the ball in his hands well enough to be a secondary creator (think Gordon Hayward or maybe Tyler Herro).

If Anthony Black isn't going to be a lead initiator, his appeal drops. I think this is why some mock drafts have him in the late lottery (e.g., 12-14 range). If he is a bonafide primary initiator, then he's a top 6 or 7 pick.

I agree that you want to him to be a lead initiator / primary ball handler to be worth a top lottery pick. But I think he has demonstrated his natural tendency to actually run an offense early at Arkansas as well as Team USA. If Arkansas decides to move him off the ball more to feature Smith Jr. on the ball, I wouldn't hold that against Black. That doesn't take anything away from him unless you believe he is being moved off the ball because he's not capable of leading the offense successfully. The question remains, of course, whether he is good enough to justify being a primary ball handler in the NBA. Only a select few are. But that question remains in place for virtually all top-prospects regarding their NBA role, and even for someone like Giddey in his second year in the NBA.

[Skybox]

Wow...had to go 5 pages deep to find NSJ thread...is he now the dark horse/sleeper pick?

I think ORL needs a Jamal Murray type at PG (not a classic CP3)...there's lots of ballhandling and creation in our young frontcourt but our backcourt is impotent offensively. Fultz can't/won't spread the floor and isn't really an effective PnR player. I wonder if NSJ is a good fit for what I am describing. Scrawny guys with big knee braces scare me, but...

Poole is a big target for me this summer, but that contract and his play (lately) have me pumping the brakes - also, I don't see ORL FO having the cojones to pull a big risky Poole trade. Drafting a similar guy would be more realistic - especially with two lotto picks. If we get enough scoring and playmaking from a Lead Guard spot, Suggs can lock down on D next to him -while he also, hopefully, keeps improving his offensive game. Suggs' improvement from year 1 to 2 has been great.

Is NSJ that kind of player? Is he possibly ORL's Murray, Brunson, FVV, SGA?

Any indications that the injuries held him back, but he's progressed?

Black & the twins might be great, but I'm really not interested in guys that can't shoot for ORL's backcourt.

[clyde21]

he's one of those combo guards that no doubt imo will be more productive in the NBA, the problem is you can never really tell how impactful they can be b/c they can give you 20 a pop in the NBA with no issues it's all the other peripheral and ancillary stuff that needs to be developed...otherwise 6th men is usually their best role.

[Upperclass]

Smith Jr is nothing like Poole imo.. much slower player with not a ton of wiggle.. Reminds me of Bones Hyland. Maybe more talented

[SeattleJazzFan]

Smith Jr is nothing like Poole imo.. much slower player with not a ton of wiggle.. Reminds me of Bones Hyland. Maybe more talented

bones is a great comp, tbh.

[clyde21]

Bones and Poole are cartoon characters, all show no go, NSJ's building blocks as a combo guard are actually much more scalable than either with more depth

[Braggins]

Im skeptical he should even go in the first round. He was that bad this year.

[Chuck Everett]

Needs to get in the weight room. I know he was injured a lot, but I was scratching my head that he was the #1 ranked player coming into college. He sure didn't play like it.

[WargamesX]

I think he goes later in the first round to a team open to a microwave scorer. He did not have a good season and based on his role and production I like Keyonte much more

[Kobblehead]

Just like Patrick Baldwin last year, someone will bank on highschool hype and dismiss the garbage freshman season due to injuries. He'll go late 1st round.

[EvanZ]

Just like Patrick Baldwin last year, someone will bank on highschool hype and dismiss the garbage freshman season due to injuries. He'll go late 1st round.

Same but for Dariq