NBA Draft Scouting Report: Purdue Guard Braden Smith

Scouting one of the best passers in college basketball.

Dec 29, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) celebrates a point during the first half against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

Purdue senior Braden Smith is one of the top guards in the nation, fueled by all-time passing and play-making that’s helped him to grab the Big Ten’s All-Time leading passer title in recent days.

He’s an undersized lead guard at a listed 6-foot, potentially slightly smaller, though he has a reported 6-foot-5 wingspan which helps him make up some ground. He’s an under-average athlete, though he’s quick and has the processing speed to match. 

He’s played all four of his seasons at Purdue, getting better in each for one of the top teams in the nation.

There’s some limitations regarding Smith’s potential translation to the NBA, but all it will take is the right team to bet on his strengths, and there’s conceivable pathways toward success, namely his passing and vision, play-making and handling, pick-and-roll prowess and shooting.

Strengths:

Passing/Vision

The obvious draw with Smith lies in his passing skill and vision, which is potentially second to none in the entire nation. He’s currently leading all Division I players at 9.6 assists per game, with a hundred-plus games to back up his ability.

Across his last 50 games as a junior and senior, he is averaging an absolutely absurd 44% assist rate, blasting through the typical assist rate necessary to offer lead reps at the NBA level. 

In terms of his actual passing skill, there’s not a pass available that Smith can’t make. He has great velocity and accuracy, and when paired with his ability to process the game at light-speed, it leads to a dangerous facilitator.

Smith’s incredibly effective off a live-dribble, favoring the right hand but able to use his left. He can go cross-court, has an innate sense of using the bounce-pass, connects the offense by ball-moving, and more. He’s patient, though isn’t shy about firing passes into tight windows either.

Vision-wise, Smith’s an elite reader of the floor, rarely missing the right thing to do to generate open looks or good offense. He’s not tall enough to see over the defense, something that will only worsen at the NBA level, though he’s crafty and angular enough it doesn’t matter often.

He’s elite from a game-sense and awareness standpoint.

Play-Making/Handling

Ultimately, Smith’s primary value lies in his play-making. More than just connecting offense but creating it, exploiting defense, setting himself or others up with keen floor-reading and reacting.

And this is where all the aforementioned skills come into play: lightning-quick processing speed, the ability to make a variety of passes, and more.

Smith is the planet that Purdue has orbited for two full seasons now, functioning as the lead handler and wearing out actions that involve rolling bigs, cutters, shooters and more.

Smith very rarely misses the right play, especially when he’s creating offense himself, playing at his own pace. He’s a fast-mover, able to adapt react and manipulate defense.

His arsenal of passes leads to real creativity as a play-maker, and he’s been proven to be one of the more effective players in college basketball in this regard.

Smith’s pure handling of the ball also fits into this, given if he’s play-making, he’s handling the ball and settling offense, which is what teams will value in him as a potential draft pick.

Smith doesn’t have incredible burst or acceleration, he’s more in the probing handler mold, keeping dribbles alive and expertly navigating space.

Despite that, he’s not a “sticky” initiator, holding onto the ball for long periods of time. He’ll probe, attack, move the ball quickly, and if he doesn’t find a weakness he’ll keep it pushing.  

Ultimately, Smith feels refined enough and elite enough as a passer-play-maker to be a real plus at the NBA level.

Pick-and-Roll Prowess

The pick-and-roll is obviously a huge part of the “play-making” part of the equation, though it feels notable enough here as Smith’s top play-type to warrant its own section.

With Purdue, Smith’s been one of the more prolific pick-and-roll initiators in college basketball, running a unbelievable 300 possessions as a junior, and he’s well on his way to that mark as a junior, too.

He was good in those situations as a junior at just 0.8 points per possessions, though accounting for the pure volume that’s plenty of points. 

Smith is a dissecting handler who can find ways to get the ball to rollers and poppers in nearly any situation, he constantly knows where all 10 players are, and absolutely any lapse in judgement is likely to lead to a clean look. Defenses have to stay sharp when Smith’s handling the ball, especially in pick-and-roll situations.

Smith does have lesser athleticism and can’t fly by defenders well without great ball screens, and certainly can’t elevate above the rim to finish. But he’s been historically great in the mid-range with the ability to yank back and fire jumpers quickly off the dribble.

Smith’s combination of skills makes him a very solid pick-and-roll play-maker, and he could shine a little more favorably for NBA teams that are PnR heavy, or have matchable personnel for Smith in high-flying lob threats and potent shooters.

Shooting

The final pro for Smith is his shooting, which has seen some consistency across his collegiate career. He shot 38% on over six attempts as a junior, and is pacing similar as a senior at nearly 41% on four attempts.

He’s long displayed shooting touch, hitting 41% of his total threes in years 1 and 2. 

Even more, he’s fairly consistent across a variety of play and shot-types. He can catch-and-shoot spotting up and in transition, and doesn’t need much space to get into pull-ups out of the pick-and-roll. His numbers across the board are pretty consistent with malleable shooting, and his quick, compact form should translate well.

Given his size limitations, he isn’t likely to function much as an off-ball player, though shooting only serves to make him a more versatile scorer and more complimentary within NBA systems.

Areas of Improvement:

Driving/Finishing

Moving on to improvement areas, it’s abundantly clear that Smith’s capable of running offense and making plays for others at an NBA-level. But he’ll need to parlay that into his own success as well, which he’s done at the college level.

Smith’s athleticism can’t allow for screaming past defenders, especially without a ball-screen, and he doesn’t have the vertical juice to allow for easier finishing. He has the poise to hang in and some creativity, though more often than not he’ll simply pull away if he has anything but a free shot.

He shot a fine 58% at the rim as a junior, though that’s dipped some as a senior, not necessarily pointing to a drop-off, but no real improvement either. And any and all athleticism concerns — burst, acceleration, lift — are sure to be exacerbated by NBA point-of-attack defenders and rim-protectors.

Smith might not need to be a prolific driver and finisher to make a positive impact at the NBA level, though that will be up to teams to parse out from a scheme or improvement perspective.

Defense

The final area of improvement would be defense, an obviously large one given we haven’t even touched on the other side of the ball to this point.

At 6-foot, the ceiling’s obviously very limited for Smith, who does make up for it ever so slightly with plus-length, a solid affinity for nabbing steals without fouling by jumping passes, continual knowledge of what’s happening, and a high motor and care-factor.

Smith’s fine off-ball, the ideal spot to keep him on defense, usually sticking with a man and offering the typical pesky, small-guard traits. There are flashes of on-ball success, though few and far between. His quickness can allow him to stay in front of handlers, though truly elite athletes won’t need much to shed him getting downhill or simply shooting over him. 

He’s by no means a truly bad defensive player, but the size disadvantage is pretty glaring when thinking about the increasing size of NBA initiators, paired with the importance of a high floor on defense in non-low-leverage situations.

There’s some indicators that Smith could be better prepared to level out defensively in the NBA, though a few immutable things are working against him.

Outlook:

All in all, Smith makes for an intriguing NBA bet. A 6-foot lead guard with some of the more elite passing and play-making we’ve seen, with all the indicators of “high feel,” that we’ve seen in recent years.

He has a set of pretty complimentary skills that could infuse a variety of NBA systems with winning impact. An un-mentioned part of his skillset is his rebounding, which is well above average for his size. He averaged just under six rebounds as a sophomore.

On the flip-side, some of the issues are glaring enough to offer pause: a lack of elite size or athleticism, thus leading to average finishing ability, and the potential to be hunted on defense.

Smith could thrive for any team that has a real plan and direction for him. A system that values his specificity, rather than just throwing him onto the court and hoping for the best.

Role-wise, that likely means he’ll be best-served as a backup floor general, capable of settling offense, making plays for others and taking advantage himself when possible. 

Expect teams to value his strengths as early as the second round, though holes in his game could see him slip late into the second round too. Strong fits that jump out include the Celtics, Pacers and Hornets.

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Range: Early to late-second

Role: Backup Floor General

Impact: Late-Rotation

Swing Skills: Finishing, Defense