Jalen Smith news, highlights and other discussion

[Biff]

Ayton isn't a 1 position defender though. On defense, Ayton could guard 4s and Smith 5s. We probably only deploy these units if we feel we need to for matchup purposes.

Sure, I think we could play these 2 together in certain scenarios. However, I think Smith is largely going to be playing when Ayton isn't on the court. Ayton can definitely guard more than 1 position but our best lineups will be with him playing the 5.

I don't hate the pick and I think he's going to be a solid role player, however it's a reach and like Cam last year, I question why JJ didn't trade back. 2nd round picks aren't super valuable assets but they can sweeten the pot when making trades, or when trying to cut salary. Maybe they liked both of them so much they weren't willing to risk it though, idk.

He probably didn't trade back because he really wanted Smith and it was rumored that SA, NO and especially Boston wanted him at 11, 13 and 14. Boston fans said they expected him to be the pick. They desperately needed a big.

Well that makes sense then. I had read he was expected more towards the late teens/early 20's.

[phx#7]

He probably didn't trade back because he really wanted Smith and it was rumored that SA, NO and especially Boston wanted him at 11, 13 and 14. Boston fans said they expected him to be the pick. They desperately needed a big.

I still feel like they were looking to move back but couldn't find any takers. Remember how long it took for the Suns pick to get announced vs every other lotter pick?

For all the talk of teams in the lottery looking to trade down none of them did, just seems like the value wasn't there based on nothing getting done.

[Golanator]

Ty-Shon has arrived

[Saberestar]

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[thamadkant]

Posted this on the trade thread, but think it is better served in the Jalen Smith thread...

From a casual fan who reads message board and watches the highlight/breakdowns, I am pumped about the Jalen Smith pick! There is no doubt that Jalen was BPA and the Spurs would have taken him right after. Kind of surprised he didn't go higher. If he would have had the Terrell Terry agent, he could have gone top 5. (turns out that the Terry hype did not work very well)

Some Jalen Smith comps that I liked were - 1) Jaren Jackson who can rebound. 2) taller Amare who plays defense and has range. 3) David Robinson as a Power Forward (they have skinny legs and high-center of gravity in common). What strikes me is how light and fast he is. He covers a lot of ground quickly which allows him to get those highlight blocks. Love his humility, heart, competitiveness and work ethic. We're going to love watching this kid develop.

Any other comps that you guys like? The Amare one is probably my favorite because I distinctly remember discussions about Amare's lack of D, rebounding and range. Now Jalen isn't as explosive as Amare, but he is taller (longer) and definitely more well rounded.

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

[RunDogGun]

Robinson was well built all over.

[bhawk]

Posted this on the trade thread, but think it is better served in the Jalen Smith thread...

From a casual fan who reads message board and watches the highlight/breakdowns, I am pumped about the Jalen Smith pick! There is no doubt that Jalen was BPA and the Spurs would have taken him right after. Kind of surprised he didn't go higher. If he would have had the Terrell Terry agent, he could have gone top 5. (turns out that the Terry hype did not work very well)

Some Jalen Smith comps that I liked were - 1) Jaren Jackson who can rebound. 2) taller Amare who plays defense and has range. 3) David Robinson as a Power Forward (they have skinny legs and high-center of gravity in common). What strikes me is how light and fast he is. He covers a lot of ground quickly which allows him to get those highlight blocks. Love his humility, heart, competitiveness and work ethic. We're going to love watching this kid develop.

Any other comps that you guys like? The Amare one is probably my favorite because I distinctly remember discussions about Amare's lack of D, rebounding and range. Now Jalen isn't as explosive as Amare, but he is taller (longer) and definitely more well rounded.

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

Agreed that Jalen as a Robinson power forward is probably a reach... we could be so lucky. I do wonder what Robinson looked like at age 20? Seem to recall Robinson came out of the Navy at age 25 or so? Anyway, super excited about Smith. Could be a true diamond in the rough for this team. Any other comps out there? Is Anthony Davis a ceiling for Jalen?

[thamadkant]

Posted this on the trade thread, but think it is better served in the Jalen Smith thread...

From a casual fan who reads message board and watches the highlight/breakdowns, I am pumped about the Jalen Smith pick! There is no doubt that Jalen was BPA and the Spurs would have taken him right after. Kind of surprised he didn't go higher. If he would have had the Terrell Terry agent, he could have gone top 5. (turns out that the Terry hype did not work very well)

Some Jalen Smith comps that I liked were - 1) Jaren Jackson who can rebound. 2) taller Amare who plays defense and has range. 3) David Robinson as a Power Forward (they have skinny legs and high-center of gravity in common). What strikes me is how light and fast he is. He covers a lot of ground quickly which allows him to get those highlight blocks. Love his humility, heart, competitiveness and work ethic. We're going to love watching this kid develop.

Any other comps that you guys like? The Amare one is probably my favorite because I distinctly remember discussions about Amare's lack of D, rebounding and range. Now Jalen isn't as explosive as Amare, but he is taller (longer) and definitely more well rounded.

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

Agreed that Jalen as a Robinson power forward is probably a reach... we could be so lucky. I do wonder what Robinson looked like at age 20? Seem to recall Robinson came out of the Navy at age 25 or so? Anyway, super excited about Smith. Could be a true diamond in the rough for this team. Any other comps out there? Is Anthony Davis a ceiling for Jalen?

Robinson entered at around that age maybe 24 years old. He completed his degree and then served in the navy so.

Jalen Smith has the shoulders and arms to be similar to Robinson... But Robinson is just a freak of nature overall.. Just like Dwight and Davis are too... Both have super wide shoulders hence the massive wingspan. Robinson had average width shoulders but just very muscular. He has 7'5 wingspan from the looks of it. Pretty much look at Ayton and imagine him with more pumped up deltoids and arms... And calves and he has closest to Robinson physique... He just needs to wear shorter shorts also

[sunsbg]

Posted this on the trade thread, but think it is better served in the Jalen Smith thread...

From a casual fan who reads message board and watches the highlight/breakdowns, I am pumped about the Jalen Smith pick! There is no doubt that Jalen was BPA and the Spurs would have taken him right after. Kind of surprised he didn't go higher. If he would have had the Terrell Terry agent, he could have gone top 5. (turns out that the Terry hype did not work very well)

Some Jalen Smith comps that I liked were - 1) Jaren Jackson who can rebound. 2) taller Amare who plays defense and has range. 3) David Robinson as a Power Forward (they have skinny legs and high-center of gravity in common). What strikes me is how light and fast he is. He covers a lot of ground quickly which allows him to get those highlight blocks. Love his humility, heart, competitiveness and work ethic. We're going to love watching this kid develop.

Any other comps that you guys like? The Amare one is probably my favorite because I distinctly remember discussions about Amare's lack of D, rebounding and range. Now Jalen isn't as explosive as Amare, but he is taller (longer) and definitely more well rounded.

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

My favorites of the 90's as well.

As for Jalen being anything like Amare - it's absurd, taller Amare with D and range is a guaranteed HOFer. It's not about the skill, it's about the mentality. Amare was labeled 'fierce competitor' in mock drafts and he was trying to destroy everybody even in his rookie year. I don't quite see something similar watching Smith. It would be great if he ends anywhere close to JJJ.

[bhawk]

Thx for the David Robinson color. He was really fun to watch. I remember wishing he was on our team and not the dreaded Spurs. I was just pulling standing reach... Jalen Smith is reported at 9.2 standing reach. Some other notables... Anthony Davis 9.0, Dwight Howard 9.25, DeAndre Ayton 9.3, Marcus Camby 9.3, Shaq 9.5, James Wiseman is 9.6 which is freakish.

[bwgood77]

Posted this on the trade thread, but think it is better served in the Jalen Smith thread...

From a casual fan who reads message board and watches the highlight/breakdowns, I am pumped about the Jalen Smith pick! There is no doubt that Jalen was BPA and the Spurs would have taken him right after. Kind of surprised he didn't go higher. If he would have had the Terrell Terry agent, he could have gone top 5. (turns out that the Terry hype did not work very well)

Some Jalen Smith comps that I liked were - 1) Jaren Jackson who can rebound. 2) taller Amare who plays defense and has range. 3) David Robinson as a Power Forward (they have skinny legs and high-center of gravity in common). What strikes me is how light and fast he is. He covers a lot of ground quickly which allows him to get those highlight blocks. Love his humility, heart, competitiveness and work ethic. We're going to love watching this kid develop.

Any other comps that you guys like? The Amare one is probably my favorite because I distinctly remember discussions about Amare's lack of D, rebounding and range. Now Jalen isn't as explosive as Amare, but he is taller (longer) and definitely more well rounded.

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

Agreed that Jalen as a Robinson power forward is probably a reach... we could be so lucky. I do wonder what Robinson looked like at age 20? Seem to recall Robinson came out of the Navy at age 25 or so? Anyway, super excited about Smith. Could be a true diamond in the rough for this team. Any other comps out there? Is Anthony Davis a ceiling for Jalen?

Best comp ceiling is Ibaka.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Agreed with most of that but except the David Robinson bit about having high center of gravity bit.

Robinson is my all time favorite player next to Barkley so I obsessed with him. And Robinson has a short torso build with long legs. He had a relatively lean body and leg area but very muscular arms and shoulders and calves.

Jalen Brown has no calves.... And he has clearly imbalance right now with his build... Robinson was well built all over.

Agreed that Jalen as a Robinson power forward is probably a reach... we could be so lucky. I do wonder what Robinson looked like at age 20? Seem to recall Robinson came out of the Navy at age 25 or so? Anyway, super excited about Smith. Could be a true diamond in the rough for this team. Any other comps out there? Is Anthony Davis a ceiling for Jalen?

Best comp ceiling is Ibaka.

Maxi Kleber might be a good realistic outcome comp.

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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

The weirdest thing for me about Jalen is... I remember when I was talking to bw about who I would draft #1. I had a friend who thought Haliburton would be our first choice. bw had me on Toppin for a bit. I waffled between Hayes, Ball, Okongwu and those two for a long time. But then... I also considered various scenarios in which one of those guys would drop to #10. I remember wondering, if Toppin or Haliburton or Okongwu were on the board, would I still take Smith? Here I was wondering if those players, who I might take #1, would be my pick at #10 instead of Jalen Smith or maybe Nesmith or Vassell or whomever.

Not shocked there were no trades in the lottery. There was no difference in talent from the front to the back to the back of the lottery. The biggest differences were salary and RFA cap hold. What a wack draft.

Watch out for OKC with Bazley and now Poku. Clearly they're swinging for the fences.

[matt131]

Good read on Smith and a bit of his background and character. A very likeable guy for sure. Seems very smart and definitely, definitely a Jones and Monty kind of guy. Hoping he continues to work extra hard.

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[darealjuice]

I listened to most of his interview with Bickley and Marotta earlier today, and at one point he mentioned that James and Monty complimented him on how much he had expanded his game since the college season ended. I thought that was interesting and am curious to see what they meant by that.

[suns12345]

I listened to most of his interview with Bickley and Marotta earlier today, and at one point he mentioned that James and Monty complimented him on how much he had expanded his game since the college season ended. I thought that was interesting and am curious to see what they meant by that.

He's already better than Giannis but with a jumpshot, i'm hearing

[matt131]

I listened to most of his interview with Bickley and Marotta earlier today, and at one point he mentioned that James and Monty complimented him on how much he had expanded his game since the college season ended. I thought that was interesting and am curious to see what they meant by that.

He's already better than Giannis but with a jumpshot, i'm hearing

Good to know he's been working on his game! I mean, that would be the hope for any young NBA prospect, but God knows being in a shutdown has made me lazy as heck. So good to know he's been focused.

[Revived]

Thing I love most about him is his size. He’s very young yet he already has NBA size and strength for the PF and even C position.

Feel like the number one issue with most rookies is about getting stronger and something we don’t have to worry about with Smith.

OT but I hope Cam Johnson comes back stronger than he was last year. He gives good effort defensively but his strength hurt him in many matchups defensively last season imo.

[Saberestar]

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[matt131]

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Barely recognize him without his glasses. I hope he still wears them in the NBA. They are are honestly really cool and can be his trademark look

(Weird connection here, but those glasses remind me of Rodrigo Blankenship's glasses. He is a rookie kicker for the Colts who I think currently leads the NFL on points scored and is performing super well as a rookie. Hopefully Jalen Smith can be as good his rookie year!)