5 players the Portland Trail Blazers should consider trading up for
By Ty Delbridge
5. Zhaire Smith
- Height: 6’4”
- Weight: 199 lbs
- Position: SF/SG
- Age: 18
Before this college basketball season, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith was a relatively unknown name. Smith was a three-star prospect and was not heavily recruited coming out Grantland, Texas. He made a name for himself this year because he was a big reason for Texas Tech’s success during the season, helping them get to the Elite Eight.
Smith is a super athletic wing who has excellent defensive potential in the NBA. He has a 6’9” wingspan and a 41.5-inch max vertical leap. Smith’s draft stock has been rising all season, and recent mock drafts have him going inside the top 20. There have been rumors that some teams like Smith a lot and could take him earlier than expected.
In his one season at Texas Tech, Smith averaged 11.3 points, 5.0 points, 1.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in 28.4 minutes per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from the 3-point line. Smith is still raw in his offensive skills and has some improvement to do in his shooting mechanics and ball-handling, but he is a smart basketball player on both ends of the floor, he hustles, defends and is a strong rebounder.
In the NBA, he won’t have to worry about being a go-to guy on offense. The Ringer compared him to a “shorter” Andre Robinson, Norman Powell and Danny Green.
The Blazers should consider trading up for him because they need a guy like Smith out on the wing. He can be the fourth option on offense and just focus on cutting, rebounding and playing smart defense. He has the potential to be a lockdown defender and could thrive playing next to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
The Blazers have a fantastic player development program, and they could help Smith improve on the offensive end. If he can become a reliable shooter down the line, Smith has a chance to be a top 3-and-D wing in the entire league. He could play both shooting guard and small forward. The Blazers would have to enter the top 15-20 to get into a position to select Smith.