I started watching some film on Jalen Smith but it's tough… all his teams tried to make him a PF. It's hard to tell if his D suffers from this or if he's kinda meh. He'll fail if Billy uses him at the 4… I can see a road where he's a good backup center and maybe a good tank option if we trade vuc at the deadline… or maybe he thrives? It's all on the table until I can find better film. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
My stream of conscience notes watching him…
JALEN SMITH SHALLOW DIVE
- decent size (he looks more 6'9" than 6'10" to me); +wingspan; moves well; shooting stroke seems legit
- he's NOT a PF/4 but all of his teams so far tried to make him thus. It went badly (ARE YOU LISTENING, BILLY?)
- he's a center. It jumps off the screen in his film. His instincts scream I AM A CENTER
- he can hit an open 3 and his shot looks good on low volume
- I gotta find more film of him at center… he's hard to evaluate
- his D looks kinda meh… I can't tell if it's positional or if he's just lost out there…
- he's a work in progress but I feel like there's something there…
I mean… https://r2.brine.dev/jalen.gif
by brineonmars
9 Comments
Thankfully he’s come to a team where Billy won’t be afraid at all to lose size at the 5 and just play him there. If we tried pwill and djj at center im sure Billy will have zero issues with him there. He might actually end up being the center prospect we’ve had that fits the best with how Billy wants to run.
He also is a pretty quick decision maker which will help him thrive here. Pat for example still takes a second to process whereas Jalen Smith seems fairly decisive catching and shooting or driving to the basket.
Scoring at 68% is great, even for the C position. And obviously not even in the same zip code as Vuc’s 54%. Averages 20.7 ppg 11.6 rpg per 36 minutes, his per minute stats are good.
At only 23 he has all the makings of a good gamble on a cheap contract. I get that his D may be under question, but people need to stop expecting guys with no weaknesses when we’re picking up strays in FA with no cap room.
How does he do against Embiid? So I guess just more of him kicking out ass then.
He’s 6’9.25” barefoot based on combine measurements which is just an inch shorter than vooch so yeah not really awful height for a center
Hard to make him a center when he can’t rebound the ball. He’s a tweener. Because he also can’t defend bigger guys posting up.
This is a low risk high reward and he’s exhibited flashes he should be as good or slightly better than KAT he has an opportunity to do that with this team.
he is a small ball center. this is why guys like him, pat suffer bc they cant play their natural position.
he is athletic enough to develop into anchor which was unthinkable with vuc, drum. huge upgrade he can shoot 3s very well.
There were three guys I wanted us to use the MLE on
De’Anthony Melton, Naji Marshall, Jalen Smith
Good to get one
Still have MLE room and room under the tax to add one more intriguing younger guy
His comp is a poor mans Al Horford IMO. Billy won a ship in college with this same build