5 Hornets whose roles are not safe after NBA trade deadline
By Ben Handler
Nick Smith Jr.
Smith Jr. was seeing a solid amount of minutes at guard due to injuries and lack of depth and was performing well, especially shooting the ball. But the 19-year-old rookie is extremely raw as a player and needs to learn the NBA game and get experience before he’s ready to help an NBA team win.
He has appeared in 36 games this season, logging an average of 16 minutes and pitching in 6.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Smith garnered some praise and attention for shooting over 45% from the three-point line on over three attempts per game, which is absolutely something to build on.
He looks like a very promising draft pick for the end of the first round, and hopefully, the Hornets got a guy who’s ready to help the rotation down the road - they could badly use his shooting and spacing at 6’5”. But after adding Mann, Micic, and Curry to the guard room, and with LaMelo Ball’s return (hopefully) on the horizon, Smith’s minutes have been squeezed out.
Overall this should be seen as a positive, as Smith will be able to log major minutes in the G-League, which is what he needs. There’s no point in the kid riding the bench for the rest of the season. Let’s get him as many reps as possible and hopefully can gain valuable experience for the future.