An Assessment of Braden Smith, the Pacers' New Point Guard

If the Indiana Pacers were going to trade up into the 2026 NBA Draft despite starting the night with no picks, it makes sense why they might target a guy voted All-Hoosier 1st team as a Sophomore at Westfield High School who also happened to be voted Indiana Mr. Basketball in 2022.

For a state that loves basketball as much as Indiana, it makes sense that the kid who's lived there since he was four grew up loving hoops so much that it became the thing he couldn't live without; from developing his game every chance he got, to playing NBA 2K on the side, to watching YouTube highlights of savant point guards passing artists like Steve Nash and Jason Williams in-between.

Add all that up, and you get a kid who loved creative point guards with effective flare, who loved learning and practicing the sport growing up, who then went on to master the craft.

Smith became a high school star as Westfield and an in-state college star at Purdue, where he stuck around all four years and wound up breaking the NCAA's All-Time Assists record in the process.

Braden Smith is the manifestation of Indiana's love for the sport of basketball in the form of a modern point guard, and now he gets to represent that community at the ultimate level of professional basketball for a team that's redefining what modern point guards mean – the Indiana Pacers.

"This is easily the best passer I've ever seen.

The way (Braden Smith) draws out an advantage to the absolute maximum is one of the best traits I've ever seen for a guard"

- @LoganRoA_ on Braden Smith's feel & potential

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 from @beyondtheRK pic.twitter.com/TNjHUfYugz
— Swish Theory (@SwishTheory) June 13, 2026

However you slice it, whether you're looking at at the stats or the tape, Braden Smith is one of the best passing prospects in the class in the 2026 class who also jumps out as a high-feel defender and soft touch tough shot maker.

A walking dime, jump pass steal, and middy pull-up waiting to happen, Braden Smith is a good decision winning play waiting to happen for his team.

Smith fits both the modern game and the Pacers style of play as a player who specializes in forcing steals, pushing pace off those turnovers, and dropping dimes in transition; they call him "Show Time" on the fast break for a reason. (no one calls him that... yet)

Witamy w @Pacers, Braden Smith 😎💪🔥pic.twitter.com/8MGlnJy1Vv
— PlanetaNBA (@_PlanetNBA_) June 25, 2026

Braden Smith stands out on the film for plenty of impressive guard traits.

In a 2025 game where his Purdue team ran a strong Michigan team off the floor, I jotted down these notes on his performance, all of which still apply to his scouting report:

Quick first step burst
Great ball control with effective flare hesi handles

Sound defensive instincts, anticipation, timing, hustle plays
Jumping passing lanes for steals into pick-six layups

Tough shot maker, baseline fadeaways, middy pull-up shooter
Good perimeter shooter

P&R Maestro Playmaker with jump stop footwork, hostage dribbles, pump fakes
Impressive Passer dishing out pocket passes to off-ball movers in transition, dumpoffs to cutters, with passing touch on bounce passes, into shooting pockets, and to rollers for alley oop lobs.

Smith's synergy profile shows an efficient scoring creator in a high volume of Pick-and-Roll playtypes, who is also efficient in ISO, Spot Up, and Transition.

Viewing the 2026 NBA Combine data next to these defensive rates, this next chart tries to measure

Activity & Feel through a ratio of Steals + Blocks per Foul against a player's Effective Length, which for a basketball player is defined by how much longer their Wingspan is compared to their Height.

Smith really stands out here as one of the best defensive guards in the class, on top of being arguably the best passer in the class. Only really Darryn Peterson and Ebuka Okorie have better defensive indicators among draft guards on the chart below.

Smith doesn't only rank highly in the Wingspan Plus Minus with arms five inches longer than he is tall, making him effectively long for the guard position; he knows how to use his physical strengths like explosive burst, timing, anticipation to force those steals in help defense off the ball, to then turn those into transition opportunities for his team.

Passing Indicators

Braden averaged a whopping 9 assists per game this last year at Purdue to just 2.8 turnovers, creating an unfathomably high 3.2 AST/TO ratio as a high volume passer primary on-ball creator.

Smith has dished 1,100 dimes to just 395 turnovers through all four years as a Boiler Maker, setting the all-time NCAA assists record along the way, in case you forgot.

Defensive Indicators

Smith forces more steals (1.8) than he fouls per game (1.6), a good measure of defensive instincts and anticipation. A similar positive Stocks Per Foul ratio can be seen for his Purdue career tallies of 249 steals + 26 blocks to just 245 fouls over his four years in college.

Shooting Indicators

Braden shot 37% 3P% on 156 3PA at Purdue this season and has shot 38% 3P% on over 600 3PA over his collegiate and high school career. Smith knocked down 82% FT% on 104 FTA his senior year and 83% FT% on over 400 FTA over his 4-year career

Visualizing 2026 NBA Draft Impact Landscape

Cerebro Sports puts NBA Draft prospect attributes on a comparable scale into categories like Scoring, Passing, Shooting, Defense, Around the Rim, and Overall (Two-Way) Impact.

Braden Smith is the best-rated passer of the group, by far. He also rates highly as a 3pt shooter.

Cerebro Offense | Ryan Kaminski/@BeyondTheRK

When evaluating Two-Way Impact, attempting to see how much a player's defense weighs into their overall impact, Braden Smith joins a very impressive group in his range of two-way players.

Braden is charted near Kingston Flemings, Darryn Peterson Brayden Burries, and Morez Johnson when it comes to 1) Overall Impact & 2) Defensive Impact, primarily due to Braden's large number of assists and steals and low number of turnovers and fouls.

2026 NBA Draft Defense | Ryan Kaminski /@BeyondTheRK

Visualizing 2026 NBA Combine data next to defensive rates, this next chart aims to project NBA Defenders through two areas: 1) Activity & Feel through a ratio of Steals + Blocks per Foul compared to 2) Effective Length, the ratio of a basketball player's Wingspan compared to their Height.

Smith really stands out here as one of the best defensive guards in the class, on top of already being viewed as arguably the best passer in the class.

Only really Darryn Peterson and Ebuka Okorie have better defensive indicators among draft guards on the chart below when measuring both Wingspan Plus Minus and Stocks Per Foul.

Smith ranks highly in Wingspan Plus Minus with over a +5" ratio, making him effectively long for guards; what takes his defense up a notch is knowing how to use his strengths like quick burst, timing, and anticipation to force steals in help defense off ball to create transition looks for his team.

For a prospect who's major concern from basically everyone is simply, "is he tall enough to last in today's NBA", they should probably be more worried more about getting back on defense after Braden pickpockets them for a steal and breakaway 2-on-1 alley oop lob.

All the intangibles. pic.twitter.com/xL0bmBFYqz
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 25, 2026

Quotes from Sasha Stefanovic, Purdue Assistant Coach

Sasha shoots — Mar 20, 2022; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Sasha Stefanovic (55) shoots the ball against Purdue Boilermakers guard Eric Hunter Jr. (2) during the first half in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Sasha Stefanovic has spent years with the Purdue basketball program, from his collegiate playing days to his more recent work as a scout and assistant coach.

When I asked Sasha for this draft profile about Braden as a player, person, and teammate in the locker room, Sasha was quick to praise Braden Smith's competitive spirit and dedication to development:

Braden will be a great asset to the Pacers organization.

He is one of the most competitive players I have had the honor of being around.

He always wants to improve his game and I am excited to see him take on this challenge to show that he can be an elite NBA guard.
Sashe Stefanovic

Purdue Legend Sasha Stefanovic on Braden Smith's Work Ethic:

"Unbelievable.

He's always asking to be in the gym, and we kinda tell him like 'no, go away, go rest', but that's just how he's wired.

He always wants to hoop."

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 @SwishTheory pic.twitter.com/mnEYGVaFVv
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) June 25, 2026

At the tail end of the 2024-25 Purdue season, Sasha joined me on my Learning Basketball podcast, where he went into further detail breaking down Braden Smith's NBA potential and work ethic:

"I believe he is going to be an All-American, (he was)
should be Big 10 Player of the Year. (he won)

He has led our team in so many categories; he is an elite, elite, elite player. It will be really interesting to see his pro projection and kinda where he is going to end up as a pro moving forward.

I think he definitely has a shot in the NBA.

He does so many little things for us on the floor, he's gotten himself to be a pretty good defensive player, where I do not know what he is averaging steals wise, but he might be leading the Big 10.
(Smith ranked1st in '25, 2nd in '26, 4th in '24)

His instincts are so, so great. He is able to get all those pick-sixes when we do post doubles and cover-two situations and ball-screen scenarios, but he is super, super talented.

His work ethic is unbelievable. He is always asking to be in the gym, we are always telling him 'no, like go away, go rest a little bit.' But that is just how he is wired, he always wants to play basketball. Always wants to hoop, always wants to get up shots.

He has gotten himself to where his pull-up jumper, if people are in drop, it's elite, feels like it is going in every time. He's gotten himself to where he is a really really good 3pt shooter.

Nine times out of ten he is going to make the right decision in ball screens...

Braden is such a huge part of it, we run a lot of stuff for him, and there is obviously a reason why.

The Pacers didn't just add a professional point guard to compete for minutes on an NBA contender, they drafted the kid from Indiana who lives and breathes the sport; hoop dreams really do come true.

Drafting Braden Smith is a bet on Indiana's love for basketball, a bet the Pacers win every time.

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