An early profile of one of the top prospects of the 2014 NBA Draft.
Week of: October 13 – October 19
He doesn’t have the flashy athleticism of Andrew Wiggins or the dominant explosiveness of Dante Exum, but Marcus Smart is a team-oriented player that plays with a winner’s mentality that simply can’t be coached. The product out of Flower Mound, Texas shocked the entire college basketball landscape when he elected to return to Stillwater for his sophomore season as opposed to entering the 2013 NBA Draft where he probably would have been the consensus second overall pick.
Smart will be entering the 2013-14 campaign with lofty expectations, but that’s what he lives for. If things go accordingly, he’ll still be a top-10 pick and potentially the first guard taken in this loaded draft. Smart took the college basketball landscape by storm last season with his dazzling playmaking ability. He was one of the main reasons the Cowboys had nine more wins from the previous season and returned to the Big Dance after a two year absence.
Last year, Smart averaged 15.4 PPG on 40.4% shooting, including a mark of 29% from three-point range. He also hauled in 5.8 RPG and dished out 4.2 APG. The shooting percentages are definitely somewhat low, but let’s remember that he’s only 19 years old. He has a beautiful shot with textbook form, and his shooting numbers should definitely rise now that he has one season of college ball under his belt. He’s also a natural when it comes to creating his own shot and has shown some impressive range. Smart also has displayed potential in catch-and-shoot opportunities.
I touched on this some earlier, but Smart’s most impressive trait is his overall competitiveness. He’s an old-school, hard-nosed player that won’t back down from any competition or challenge. He’s a team player that has great vision as a passer and excels in any one-on-one situation. He’s a natural-born leader that wants the ball in late-game situations. His competitiveness has also given him the ability to be very solid at finishing near the rim with contact. He has a strong frame that he uses to overpower opponents on both ends of the hardwood, and he makes good use of hustle, brains, and power over sheer athletic prowess.
Just as he is offensively, Smart is super competitive on the defensive end. He’s more than capable of defending the PG or SG, and he takes a lot of pride in being considered a lockdown defender. Smart has quick hands that earn him a lot of steals.
Right now, you could make a very strong case that Smart will be the most polished player in college basketball this year. He has a super impressive all-around NBA skill-set that any NBA team would welcome; he just needs to become more consistent in some areas of his game, mainly on the offensive end. Standing at 6’4” and weighing in around 200 lbs., Smart is bigger than most PG’s so he can spend some time at SG if needed. He’s absolutely the definition of a combo-guard.
It’s difficult to find one glaring weakness in Smart’s overall arsenal. He’s a solid athlete but not a spectacular one, nor is he super quick. He does a great job of utilizing the athleticism he does have, however. There could be reason for concern that he isn’t a natural fit at either guard spot. He’s undersized for the two and not a pure one, but I don’t think that’s cause for too much concern. Good coaching will find a natural role for him somewhere. For when he does play the two, he will need to improve some in off-ball situations, but again, good coaching should be able to fix that for a player as talented as he is.
There’s no reason Smart shouldn’t be heavily in the discussion for the Naismith Award by the season’s end. He was great last year, but he should be even better this season. It should be very interesting to track his progression over the course of the season and see if he improves any as a shooter. He is pretty unique compared to the other top prospects for the 2014 draft because willingness and determination are what makes him special instead of natural abilities. This is one of the primary reasons as to why he’s so fun and entertaining to watch.
Player Comparison: James Harden
Next Week’s Report: Willie Cauley-Stein, C, UK, SO
By Brian Emory
Follow @BrianEmory
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