Golden State Warriors: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
By Phil Watson
Trading for rights to Alen Smailagic
The Golden State Warriors send a pair of future second-round picks (2021 and 2023) to the New Orleans Pelicans on draft night to acquire the rights to Serbian teenager Alen Smailagic.
The Warriors were already familiar with the lanky kid from Belgrade, as he spent last season preparing for the draft with Golden State’s G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where he was productive at the back of the rotation.
Smailagic averaged 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in just 17.4 minutes per game for the G-Warriors, shooting 49.7 percent overall while hitting just 23.7 percent (19-for-80) from deep.
Painfully thin at 6-foot-10 and just 215 pounds, Smailagic may be back in Santa Cruz for large chunks of this season after signing a partially guaranteed four-year minimum deal.
He played all seven games for the Warriors in Summer League action, putting up 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game, but shooting just 35.7 percent overall and going 4-for-18 from long range.
Smailagic, at this point, is much further along as an offensive force, as he is a creative finisher inside, than he is defensively. At that end of the floor, Smailagic has a long, long way to go. He’s undisciplined and foul trouble is a constant concern. He averaged 4.8 fouls per 36 minutes last season.
In the Summer League, that number was 4.3 fouls per 36 — still high — and he will need a lot of work before he’s ready to contribute. But with a four-year deal that includes two non-guaranteed years, Smailagic and the Warriors have bought time to bring the teenagers along slowly.
Grade: B