Jalen Smith

JerkFace

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He said in his interview that he doesn’t like contacts and, up to this point, hasn’t been able to afford LASIK. Will be interesting to see if he goes the LASIK route now or if he’s gotten so use to playing with the goggles that he keeps them.
 

Raindog

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i don't know anything about the players available but Haliburton got an A+ from CBSSports and i think we could have used a backup pg. They gave our pick/decision the worst rating of the top 50 picks:

"Phoenix does have a history of doing things that don't make a lot of sense. Grade: D-"

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...o-mavericks-deal-al-horford-picks-to-thunder/

I read CBS Sports' website all the time, and trust me, the people who write for it are dumb as bricks... that goes for basketball and every other sport.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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Here is his virtual film session with ESPN. Seems to understand his strengths and weaknesses and what needs work.

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AzStevenCal

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Here is his virtual film session with ESPN. Seems to understand his strengths and weaknesses and what needs work.

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Contrary to what we're seeing and hearing from almost everyone, this is one "expert" that labeled him a potential lottery pick.
 

SunsTzu

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I read CBS Sports' website all the time, and trust me, the people who write for it are dumb as bricks... that goes for basketball and every other sport.

Posted this on another board, but here are their rankings for Suns first rounders since 2015.

2015 - Booker: B
2016 - Bender: A
2016 - Chriss: B
2017 - Jackson: A-
2018 - Ayton: B+
2018 - Bridges: C-
2019 - Johnson: D
2019 - Jerome: A
 

SunnyBaller

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Posted this on another board, but here are their rankings for Suns first rounders since 2015.

2015 - Booker: B
2016 - Bender: A
2016 - Chriss: B
2017 - Jackson: A-
2018 - Ayton: B+
2018 - Bridges: C-
2019 - Johnson: D
2019 - Jerome: A
Those are some pretty spot on grades
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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Posted this on another board, but here are their rankings for Suns first rounders since 2015.

2015 - Booker: B
2016 - Bender: A
2016 - Chriss: B
2017 - Jackson: A-
2018 - Ayton: B+
2018 - Bridges: C-
2019 - Johnson: D
2019 - Jerome: A
4 of the 5 lowest grades are good to really good players. Yeah they aren't too good at this grading thing.
 

jandaman

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Love the pick. I've been watching videos of him and reading about him for months now. The Suns need athletic big next to Ayton and someone who can back him up. Lakers won the championship with the biggest front court in the NBA and Blazers also got into the playoffs with their big front court setup. Small ball was exposed with the Rockets and look at them blow it up, to this day championship teams have a good rotation of bigs, only the Warriors were on the border but they have All-Time Great shooting... which cannot be replicated.
I was hooked on Smith after seeing his blocks and 3pt numbers thus when I started rooting for the Suns to look at him and here we are.
 

hcsilla

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Nope, still me, and I still feel the same, though I would have preferred Haliburton.

If there is any way we can convince Serge Ibaka to come here for the MLE, we need to make it happen. Ibaka is exactly the guy after whom Smith should and can model his game.

Yes, and Ibaka is the guy who Smith reminds me most of.
 

JCSunsfan

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Those are some pretty spot on grades
Those are horrible based on how the players turned out. Gm’ scan draft horribly and do it getting media A’s and B’s. Bender and Chriss are perfect examples.
 
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Mainstreet

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James Jones on why he drafted Jalen Smith.

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JCSunsfan

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James Jones on why he drafted Jalen Smith.

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Definitely drafted for need. Also he is not a small ball guy. Jones is not a MENSA member. He takes a very simple direct approach to team building. I cannot see him as a very good GM when he has to do what Presti is doing right now. But for this stage he seems fine.
 
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Mainstreet

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Definitely drafted for need. Also he is not a small ball guy.

Jalen is so versatile I think the Suns can play him with any lineup.

He can play the 4/5, shoot, defend on the outside, guard the rim, rebound, make free throws and run the court.
 

JCSunsfan

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Posted this on another board, but here are their rankings for Suns first rounders since 2015.

2015 - Booker: B
2016 - Bender: A
2016 - Chriss: B
2017 - Jackson: A-
2018 - Ayton: B+
2018 - Bridges: C-
2019 - Johnson: D
2019 - Jerome: A
Average grade of the players that turned out well. C+. Average grade of our horrible drafts. A-.

Yeah. It’s the sports media that are morons.
 

Absolute Zero

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Listening to Mark Stein and Dan Patrick on the radio driving to work this morning, but were very surprised at our pick. So were a lot of "experts". Hopefully, our guy can prove them all wrong.
 
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Mainstreet

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I've been watching video of Jalen Smith since March. The biggest weaknesses I see is he needs more strength, body frame might present some issues, defensive footwork inside and improvement as a passer.

If the Suns can build up his body I think they have a real find.

Of the players available the Suns passed on, the ones that gave me pause were Tyrese Haliburton (12) and Precious Achiuwa (20).

It was hard passing on potentially the PGOTF in Haliburton and a player with an NBA ready body in Achiuwa. I liked both a lot.

After the first nine picks in the draft I think it was a beauty in the eye of the beholder type thing. If the Suns traded down there was no guarantee Smith would be there later. I didn't think it was like passing on Cam Johnson at 11 in the 2019 draft and believing they could have selected him with a later pick.

Jalen Smith is a very skilled player.
 

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