How Smith Handles Next Few Weeks Will Determine Path to NBA Success
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Less than 60 days.
That's how many days former Arkansas Razorback guard Nick Smith, Jr. has to grow his body and game before the Charlotte Hornets tip off the NBA preseason on Oct. 10 against the Miami Heat. It's in the weeks leading up to the start of the season, most of which finds players left to their own devices, that separates legends from afterthoughts. It's a time to solidify family relationships that carry a player through the mentally difficult times within a season, and it's also when honest self-evaluation takes hold as athletes head to the lab to rebuild who they are on the floor.
For Smith, if he has the maturity and drive to become an elite NBA star, these next 50+ days have to encompass the biggest leap ever in his game. Over the course of Smith's time at Arkansas, when Razorback coach Eric Musselman found himself regularly peppered with questions about the status of his top Class of 2022 recruit, the response was always a combination of knee management and a reference to Smith working on his own.
While the vague reports of his injury never evolved into a concrete explanation, leaving fans to wildly speculate something else must be behind Smith's absence, the one thing that could be confirmed was how much time Smith spent alone.
Alone two rows back behind the Razorback bench. Alone at the end of the bench. Alone in California while his teammates continued with their season. Alone working on his game while on campus. And seemingly alone on the court as he failed to assimilate well into the machine the Razorbacks had become prior to his return for the last month of the season.
All of that alone time failed to result in growth in Smith's game. If anything he digressed. By separating himself so much, he never developed as a team player. Often, it hurt Arkansas to have him on the court as his presence disrupted the flow of the offense. Meanwhile, on defense, Smith became a liability as teams began to single him out as a target for easy baskets. His poor use of alone time during college cost Smith millions once the NBA draft rolled around this past spring.
How he handles this current set of alone time will go a long way in determining whether he loses even more of his potential fortune when it comes time to negotiate his next contract. It's no secret the spacing in the NBA should help Smith offensively. However, the list of things he needs to improve upon to make that one advantage relevant is long.
For starters, Smith was physically small even for the college level. At 6-foot-4, 170 pounds, he's a stiff breeze away from flying into the second row. It's simply not an effective weight for his height when banging against guards who look like NFL tight ends, much less anyone who may pick him up down low. To put things in perspective, Seth Curry is considered a small guard in the league. He's two inches shorter than Smith, yet has a 15-pound muscle advantage.
The good news for Smith is because he is so young, he still has some natural growth left in his body as he fills out once he turns 20. However, it's going to be important that he add lean muscle over the next two months to go along with it.
The extra size should help with one weakness that showed up during the NBA Summer League – free throws. Smith struggled to draw fouls, which should improve with increased size as he feels more comfortable taking contact. However, he was poor a best once he got to the line, barely hanging on in the low 60% range. The extra muscle should help get the ball over the rim when he's tired and achy.
However, beyond needing to continue to evolve as a defensive player, Smith has to show tremendous growth as a team player. Late August and September has to become a time where natural instincts are built for recognizing a player coming open as defenders close in. The big knock on Smith offensively is his poor shot selection. Developing a natural feel for the team aspect of the game should help greatly as his body learns to essentially check out of bad situations. That also includes jacking up quick shots in the first few seconds of a possession.
Once Smith learns to see the whole floor and has a strong anticipation of where his teammates will be in relation to the defense, the spacing that helps him thrive will open up even more. The percentage of ill-advised shots will go down, which should increase his efficiency and productivity. That will lead to more games like his Summer League game against Portland where Smith's 10-of-13 shooting night for 33 points looked much closer to the goods Arkansas fans were sold than the multiple scoreless outings he posted late in the season.
If Smith makes the most of August and September resulting in a much improved product come October, then it will be the first step along the path of a highly successful career. However, if his alone time turns out to be as productive as it was at Arkansas, he may very well find himself on a much abbreviated journey.
The next 50+ days will tell the story either way.
HOGS FEED:
DETAILS COME OUT OF FLORIDA REGARDING FORMER HOGS' RB ALEX COLLINS' DEATH
