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NBA Draft: Is Zhaire Smith a first round gamble worth taking for the Bucks?

By Jordan Treske

CHICAGO, IL - MAY 19: Zhaire Smith poses for a head shot at the Body Image station for the Medical Evaluation portion of the 2018 NBA Combine powered by Under Armour on May 19, 2018 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 19: Zhaire Smith poses for a head shot at the Body Image station for the Medical Evaluation portion of the 2018 NBA Combine powered by Under Armour on May 19, 2018 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – MARCH 25: (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 25: (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Strengths

As has been gushed about by draft pundits at this point and can be seen in any highlight package of his, Smith is an elite-level athlete, both in terms of his vertical explosion and his speed/agility.

In terms of his hops, Smith is capable of making your jaw drop at a moment’s notice, whether it’s in chasing down unaware opposing players to reject a layup attempt at the rim or climbing the ladder to put home a thunderous putback dunk.

Combining all of that with his incredible physical tools as he stands at 6’4″ and is armed with a 6’9.75″ wingspan, Smith is an instinctive, versatile defender that is capable of making his presence known against guards, wings and even bigs, at least on the college level.

Smith puts his tools and overall physical profile to good use, considering that he’s prone to making winning plays (i.e. chasing down loose balls), crashes the glass on both ends of the floor and is always in motion in general, both in open court and half court situations.

While his overall skill set offensively is still firmly in the incubation stage, Smith possesses a great feel for the game and was uniquely deployed for stretches by Red Raider head coach Chris Beard as he was used as a screener to open up scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.

Finally, Smith is a very effective and acrobatic finisher at the rim as he converted 109 of his 168 attempts at the rim this year (64.9 percent), per Will Schreefer’s shot chart tool over at The Stepien. That mark ranked him in the 83rd percentile among guards across the country this season.

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