Welcome Zhaire Smith

[KKell2507]

They do however basically have all the cap space in the world the summer before this pick. Meaning they could in theory pull a 2010 and make a super team again and make this pick rather useless. So it may not hurt to trade it sooner rather than later, depending on how the situation plays out as it gets closer.

Lakers will prove that having cap space is 1 thing, but forming a superteam with it is another.

Miami's first superteam only worked because they already had 1 superstar (Wade).
Don't see them having 1 against then.

Will definitely be interesting to see what kind of team they can build. Because they will go from having absolutely 0 cap space to all of it in one offseason. You're right about the stars needing to be there. But just like LA they have the lifestyle of Miami to help sell them to somebody. For that reason I doubt they strike out completely but will be interesting to see how it plays out for sure.

[Wilfried]

Will definitely be interesting to see what kind of team they can build. Because they will go from having absolutely 0 cap space to all of it in one offseason.

Don't think they are at this moment the only team with a lot of cap space, projected for 2020 ...

But you can't play with only 2 players on your roster.

We'll see how it turns out.
Them not having a pick this draft helps us

[phiphan]

He's got outlier in-game vertical explosiveness, but as for his other physical tools, his first step is meh and he looks a little non-fluid to me running the floor and making cuts. Not sure what that gets you. Rich man's Justin Anderson? He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

[ivysixer2000]

Pretty much this.

Read on Twitter

To me, thats a direct shot at JJ and Marco.

We do need a better mixture of shooting and defenders, no doubt, just wish any of them could dribble.

Mikal's greatest weakness was his handle and creating his own shot. So people who are knocking Zhaire for that weakness don't make any sense.

This team basically said, we don't want the polished shooter who lacks the elite athleticism to lock down a man on iso. We prefer the guy who can lock down the perimeter and who has an improving shot. That's really the difference between these two guys.

Yeah the writing was on the wall in that Celtics series. Basically Fultz and in limited mins Zhaire will be brought in to replace the defensive liabilities we have in JJ and Marco. Fultz will eventually run the team and replace TJ, as there is really no reason to run TJ and Fultz at the same time so thats where Zhaire comes in eventually.

Thing is, they are so young and so many 'ifs' in there that it will take some patience, unless we get a big free agent. Either way, we can't expect to rotate JJ and Marco in the playoffs and expect to beat a good team, and it showed.

And yeah its funny to want Mikal and question Zhaire's ball handling.

[Black Mage]

He's got outlier in-game vertical explosiveness, but as for his other physical tools, his first step is meh and he looks a little non-fluid to me running the floor and making cuts. Not sure what that gets you. Rich man's Justin Anderson? He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

His first step is elite. The problem is his handle isn't advanced enough to take advantage of it. I fully expect Brown to work on the shot and handle to unlock this kid's offensive game.

I'm going to call it, by January this kid will have a killer first step game.

[ivysixer2000]

I really think there's a lot more ball handling there than he could show in Texas Tech. Evans and Culver are superior good ball handlers and shot creators so I understood the hierarchy on offense.

That said, I've seen too many flashes of Zhaire Smith driving past his opponent and dishing the ball to the big to state that he's a zero on the offensive end. It will all depend on development with this kid, how much can he improve his shot.

Hearing that Brett Brown is all in on this kid makes me drool.

From the video of his private work out with us, his shooting form actually looked alright but it was just TJ level slow. Hopefully he goes straight to LA from summer league to join Fultz with Hanlon.

Would love to see those videos posted in this thread, they are lost in that other one if you can find them.

[youngcrev]

So is he a guy we can expect to hound opposing PGs with the ability to switch onto bigger guys?

[ivysixer2000]

So is he a guy we can expect to hound opposing PGs with the ability to switch onto bigger guys?

It was pointed out in the draft thread and above by young, why did we draft 2 short SGs in the first round. Well first it should be a wake up call to Fultz, but second our guard rotation lacks athleticism. If your guard rotation consists of TJ, JJ, and Marco, you lack athleticism.

Rozier tore us up cause we didn't have anyone that could guard him, TJ came in and did a decent job, but imagine if that was Kyrie....he would've ripped TJ a new one. We need guys like Fultz and Zhaire to guard the opposing PGs with Ben on the floor, cause Ben and Roco can't and shouldn't be guarding them. It will take time, but now what we need is for them to shoot well and mix in either JJ or Marco in limited mins, depending on which one comes back.

[sodmoraes]

I´m intrigued with this picks. I recomend you guys to read this article about him:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/how-zhaire-smiths-wheelchair-bound-father-helped-mold-him-into-a-potential-2018-nba-lottery-pick/

His physical tools are crazy, he will be a great dunker and defender. His handle is improving, and his shot, albeit slow, seems to have goood mechanics. He seems really focused, aparently loves to train. I think he´s a hard worker, if he can develop his shot he can be an all star.

[Stanford]

Pretty much this.

Read on Twitter

To me, thats a direct shot at JJ and Marco.

We do need a better mixture of shooting and defenders, no doubt, just wish any of them could dribble.

He mentioned Marco in the very next sentence.

[ivysixer2000]

Pretty much this.

Read on Twitter

To me, thats a direct shot at JJ and Marco.

We do need a better mixture of shooting and defenders, no doubt, just wish any of them could dribble.

He mentioned Marco in the very next sentence.

Guess I need to listen to it....

[PLO]

He's got outlier in-game vertical explosiveness, but as for his other physical tools, his first step is meh and he looks a little non-fluid to me running the floor and making cuts. Not sure what that gets you. Rich man's Justin Anderson? He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

His first step is elite. The problem is his handle isn't advanced enough to take advantage of it. I fully expect Brown to work on the shot and handle to unlock this kid's offensive game.

I'm going to call it, by January this kid will have a killer first step game.

His first step is poor IMO just because of footwork, so much wasted movement. It could be elite given his athletic abilities.

[phiphan]

He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

Watch on YouTube

big dumb dumb

[Ericb5]

I definitely see Zhaire role as a combo guard who comes off the bench to defend 1-3. I'm also a little worried that Zhaire will take over TJ's minutes in short time.

I suppose that anything is possible, but not many 19 year old non lottery picks get roles on 52 win teams with max cap space.

I don't expect him to do it this year, but I would love for him to earn one.

The way I see it. TJ, TLC and Holmes are on their final year then they'd be replaced with zhaire, shamet and bolden in 2019-2020

Yeah, I think he is in that group to start, and hopefully he differentiates himself from them over the next 1-2 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Black Mage]

He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

Watch on YouTube

big dumb dumb

Not really seeing that. Kid seemed a bit nervous, looks uncomfortable up there. Some of the questions really didn't give him much to say besides, yeah I jump and dunk it.

[Sixerscan]

He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

Watch on YouTube

big dumb dumb

Last I checked JR Smith has a ring.

Anyway he may just be a bad public speaker he's a teenager.

[Black Mage]

He's got outlier in-game vertical explosiveness, but as for his other physical tools, his first step is meh and he looks a little non-fluid to me running the floor and making cuts. Not sure what that gets you. Rich man's Justin Anderson? He also sounded pretty dumb in his interview, which I don't think can be ignored -- not many dumb starters on championship teams.

His first step is elite. The problem is his handle isn't advanced enough to take advantage of it. I fully expect Brown to work on the shot and handle to unlock this kid's offensive game.

I'm going to call it, by January this kid will have a killer first step game.

His first step is poor IMO just because of footwork, so much wasted movement. It could be elite given his athletic abilities.

I consider that part of the dribble process. Feels like something that should be pretty easy to correct. In his interview he said he was played at the 5 and told to stand under the basket and just dunk it. Makes me even more confident that he is going to explode with proper coaching. Hard to be a good dribbler when you are put at the 5 and just told to catch and dunk.

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but this might be a diamond mine in the making for us (yes, diamond > gold). He's a 5 karat hidden inside a lump of coal. I trust Brown to unearth and polish him up.

[PLO]

I guess he can discuss the role of IQ in the NBA with the reportedly intelligent Mo Bamba as he's rising up to dunk over him.

Ben Simmons and Zhaire are going to have some deep locker-room discussions on metaphysics, without doubt.

[phillychuck]

We didn't do Mikal dirty, nor his Mom. We didn't draft him intending to trade him, we were badgered into the trade by Phoenix, who reportedly called back 4 times after we said no, sweetening their offer. I would have been irresponsible of Brown not to take that offer, and Brown admitted he'd rather be coaching Mikal next season, while also stating that first-round rookies rarely make a positive impact on winning.

[Kobblehead]

His interview on CSN with Danny Pommels didn't come across all that well, either. Anyway, his court awareness seems excellent.