NBA Draft: Suns pick Jalen Smith, build on Chris Paul trade (2024)

PHOENIX — Midway through his first season at Maryland, a freshman big man nicknamed “Stix” stayed after practice for extra work. Strength coach Kyle Tarp and a few student managers got out blocking pads, and then they beat on Jalen Smith, trying to make the 6-foot-10 big man stronger and more prepared for life in the rugged Big Ten.

Over the next two seasons, Smith blossomed into a dominant post player on both ends, a performance that pushed him into Wednesday’s NBA Draft, where the Phoenix Suns selected him with the No. 10 pick.

“Pretty much what I bring to the Phoenix Suns is defensive versatility,” said Smith, pointing out the scoring power of rising star Devin Booker, established point guard Chris Paul and talented big man Deandre Ayton. “I feel that’s where I can make my impact the most, help them create the offense.”

Smith’s pick was a mild surprise, mostly because of where he landed. Most respected mock drafters had the Suns favoring a wing with length or a point guard with potential. Instead, Phoenix, which has gone 10 seasons without making the playoffs, went with a big man who can help Ayton defensively and step out and hit the 3 on offense.

Smith spent two seasons at Maryland. As a sophom*ore, he was a third-team All-American. He led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 21 double-doubles. He averaged 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots. He was the country’s only player to block 60 shots and bury 30 3-pointers. Smith said he worked out in person for the Suns and had two meetings with the organization, one with scouts and another with general manager James Jones and coach Monty Williams.

“He checked a lot of boxes for us,” Jones said. “We want to be athletic. We want to be long. … When we looked at Jalen, his versatility to play (power forward) and (center), just to be a versatile forward that can stretch the floor, that can be the first big down the floor, could switch in pick-and-roll and more importantly, could attack the offensive glass. We thought he could give us an edge in our frontcourt.”

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s evaluation of Smith:

Strengths: He’s a 3-and-D big at 6-foot-10. And despite that size, he’s a very bouncy athlete who can really rise up to rim height and throw down when he gets a chance to leap off of two feet. He also runs the floor really well. Offensively, Smith is a good shooter who should be able to space the floor at a high level. Very good in pick-and-pop situations above the break. Does a terrific job of setting his feet and has good shot prep. Terrific base that draws power up through his lower half. He has terrific balance, making it a very quiet, reliable shot. I would bet on Smith being a good pick-and-pop shooter who hits right in the vicinity of the 37 percent he knocked down this year, even when pushing the line back beyond the NBA distance. He also finished well inside in college at Maryland, and was a monster offensive rebounder crashing in from the perimeter.

Defensively, Smith is a good shot blocker who possesses really terrific timing coming over from the weak side. He’s a terror rotating over and contesting shots. Impressively, he’s an ambidextrous shot blocker, which makes him all the more effective as a rim protector. He’s not quite as effective as a primary rim protector because you can go into his body because of a lack of lower body strength, but if you give him some daylight he’ll send it back. Additionally, despite that lack of lower body strength, he’s a good rebounder. He positions himself well and boxes out all the time. That sense of timing when to high-point the ball also extends to his rebounding, and his ability to explode off of two feet is really useful.

Weaknesses: Smith is one of the stiffest athletes I can remember genuinely being considered in the first round. You especially see it on the perimeter defensively. He really struggles to sink down and slide with opposing players. Then on top of it, he struggles to drop his hips to try to slide and cut off. He basically just has to turn and run after he gets beat even by a quarter-step. He has some actual lateral quickness and fluidity, but you don’t see it because he often hops around the court on defense in the halfcourt as opposed to sliding. I’d be surprised to see him be a plus defender on the perimeter. Next, when it comes to his vertical spacing offensively, he’s a load leaper who has to really power up off of two feet to get in the air for a lob. Those extra split seconds matter in the NBA, as it allows defenders the extra time to recover while you’re loading up. His second jump is also poor because of this load time. It also doesn’t help that Smith only has a plus-two wingspan at 7-foot.

Summary: The tools are pretty clear for Smith, and that’s why NBA teams are enthused. He’s a terrific shot blocker, and he shoots 3s as a big. Ultimately, though, I just have real questions about everything else, including what exactly the role boils down to. I don’t really think he can play the true 5 until he puts on lower body strength, because even average centers will bully him around at the NBA level. And I also don’t really think he can play the 4 because you’re getting diminishing returns by not picking and popping him as often in ball screens, and because he is going to struggle to defend on the perimeter. The bet on Smith would be a bet on a great kid who has really interesting athletic traits and is still extremely young with a good head on his shoulders.

In previous years, Suns fans watched the NBA Draft with fingers crossed, hoping a young star would fall in their laps and help steady the franchise from its tailspin. This draft was different. This week’s trade for Paul — along with Phoenix’s 8-0 showing in the Orlando bubble — has produced a confidence that hasn’t been present for a while. The hope: At long last, maybe this is a playoff team.

For that reason, Smith, 20, doesn’t have to be a star, just a piece. Someone who knows his role. Someone with size. He was big from the start; born at 10 pounds, measuring two feet long from head to toe. According to The Baltimore Sun, a pediatrician predicted Smith could grow to 6-9 or 6-10. In that sense, Smith mostly has reached his potential. From his freshman days at Maryland, he has gone from 190 to 225 pounds. “He allows us to play with two dynamic bigs in space,” Jones said.

To prepare for the NBA, Smith said he focused on strengthening his lower body and adding flexibility in his hips and ankles. He also focused on scoring with his back to the basket, creating his own offense and extending his shooting range. The shooting should translate, as should the rim protection. Smith has excelled on that front his entire career. As a junior at Mount Saint Joseph High, he not only was the Baltimore Catholic League’s Player of the Year but also its Defensive Player of the Year. As a Maryland sophom*ore, he was an All-Big Ten defender.

His best game might have come Jan. 26 at Indiana. Smith scored a career-high 29 points, shooting 10 of 14 and making four 3s, but what he did in the final minutes mattered most. In the final 71 seconds, he scored four points, including the go-ahead layup. He also produced a steal and the game-sealing defensive rebound to help secure a key Maryland win. All of his NBA potential was on display.

“We felt in order to keep pace in the West we needed to be stronger with our frontcourt,” Jones said. “Jalen’s a defensive guy with offensive skills. A big with ball skills that can pass and shoot. He’s a great addition to our team.”

(Photo: Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)