For the Golden State Warriors, the 2019-20 NBA season is one to forget. Injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all but doomed the Warriors before they could do anything and their lack of talent guaranteed a lost season. At 6-24, the league’s worst record, the Warriors have tumbled from the top rung of the latter down to the gutter.
In terms of hope for the future, the idea of pairing a top pick with a healthy Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green is tantalizing. Aside from that, there’s not much in the way of optimism for young talent in the organization. There is one piece many have neglected who is proving himself as a future NBA player down in Santa Cruz: 19-year-old rookie center Alen Smailagic.
A near 17-hour flight from Santa Cruz, a kid dominated his competition in Belgrade, Serbia. The Warriors took notice and brought him over to the G League last season. When it came time to draft, the Warriors wanted to keep Smailagic in the Bay. So when the Pelicans drafted him with the 39th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Warriors promptly traded for their Serbian wunderkind, keeping him in the organization. Though raw, Smailagic’s handling fluidity and shooting upside on offense, rim protection and feel for the game on defense are what had many high on his future.
Through 10 G League games, Smailagic has exceeded the expectations of many. He’s posting 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals on an impressive 63.1% true shooting. On Monday against the Northern Arizona Suns, Smailagic scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting (Note: Midway through writing this piece, Smailagic followed up his career-high with another one against Agua Caliente. A tad inconvenient, but we power through.)
During moments of this game, Smailagic looked like the best player on the floor, especially on the offensive end. For a 6-foot-10 big man, Smailagic is versatile and skilled on the offensive end, with a diverse array of weapons in his arsenal. Most impressively, Smailagic is an advanced slasher for his size, with a legitimate off-dribble threat.
Facing up, Smailagic has an advanced and fluid enough handle to take a few dribbles, blow by a slower big and rise up for a monster dunk:
https://streamable.com/zm1kb
A legitimate shooter — Smailagic is stroking the ball at 42.6% on 4.7 threes per game — defenders have to respect his shot and closeout accordingly. Smailagic’s handle is an apt counter here, able to knife into space and make plays with a numbers advantage. His fluidity handling at his size pops here, as does the body control and footwork to evade the defender. He can’t finish, though:
How many 6-foot-10 big men in the NBA possess the handling coordination to slice their way to the block and spin and the touch to finish over two defenders softly? Not many, but Smailagic is one of them:
As previously mentioned, Smailagic looks like a knockdown shooter to begin the G League season, splashing 20 of his 47 triples over 10 games. His low free throw percentage (58.8%) doesn’t inspire confidence for his shooting, but Smailagic has only taken 17 and his touch is visibly great, as we see in the previous clip.
Aside from the numerical indicators, his mechanics are smooth: compact, fluid, repeatable. The Stepien’s Ross Homan noted an improvement in his lower body mechanics from last season. To the trained and untrained eye, the shot looks good:
https://streamable.com/1eynv
Aside from his perimeter creation, Smailagic can bang in the post like a traditional big, placing in the 65th percentile on post-ups this season. Patient on the block, Smailagic probes, waiting for the perfect moment to whiz his outside foot towards the baseline and score, eating defenders alive with his drop step:
https://streamable.com/ibihg
Though his decision making (0.7 assist:turnover ratio) and overall processing speed needs improvement, Smailagic has shown flashes of passing ability. Because of his handle, Smailagic powers the offense as a high-post cog, running dribble handoffs. With cutters circling around him, Smailagic surveys the defense before slipping the ball through traffic to a cutter:
Smailagic’s real upside comes from when he blends his handle and his passing, a trait few bigs can match. Live dribble passing is key for any facilitator, let alone a true center. Even on this pass, Smailagic’s limitations are present: He lacks the craft to fire a pass off of a live dribble and his decision making speed needs accelerating. Still, it is hard to complain at a 19-year-old center attacking the baseline and whipping a pass to the weak wing:
On rare occasions, Smailagic’s live dribble passing comes alive and sparks terrible nightmares of the player he could be in the future. One of the subtleties of his slashing ability is how low Smailagic gets, his shoulder nearly parallel with the ground, allowing him to blow by defenders more easily with better leverage. Such is the case here, with Smailagic beating his defender middle and dropping the ball off when the help comes, but his teammate fumbles the pass:
https://streamable.com/n8jv6
Smailagic’s largest well of upside might reside on the defensive end, but he’s still raw. At times, Smailagic looks like a defensive masterclass, his rim protection, mobility on the perimeter and feel for the game all shutting down opposing offenses. For just as many of his minutes, Smailagic looks out of place, with poor positioning and technique.
His pick-and-roll defense exemplifies this contrast well. With nimble feet and length, Smailagic can thrive in Santa Cruz’s drop scheme. On the first play, he positions himself perfectly, baiting the ballhandler into throwing the lob and tracking back to blow the play up. Then, he shows off his lateral quickness, containing the hard drive by the ballhandler:
On this possession, however, Smailagic positions himself too close to the ballhandler, opening up a massive window to feather in an alley-oop:
With advanced instincts for his age, Smailagic is an active help defender, routinely fluttering to the ball to close up gaps and rotate to protect the rim, even if his efforts don’t always result in a stop:
https://streamable.com/ktb05
Smailagic’s team defense, despite the flashes of positive awareness, is still raw on the whole. He has a tendency to over help, leaving his man unnecessarily and conceding open shots. Even when he places his help correctly, he often doesn’t react quickly or strongly enough to block shots and his poor technique often leads to fouls. Smailagic is prone to the occasional glitch-out, where he doesn’t guard anyone or stops playing defense in the middle of a play:
https://streamable.com/ioeol
With light feet for his size and enough length to work as a corrective tool, Smailagic has flashed the ability to mirror perimeter players and contain drives. At times, like the last clip, his hunched posture and technical issues lead to open shots, but he generally does well defending on a switch:
Many of Smailagic’s issues should correct themselves with age and playing experience. If that happens, technical improvement added to his impressive baseline of size, athleticism, mobility and IQ makes for a potential defensive monster on the interior and the perimeter.
With the Warriors’ season unfolding as it is, Smailagic’s time in Santa Cruz could be coming to a close. With Smailagic playing as well as he is, there’s no reason for Golden State not to give him an extended chance with the big club.
If Smailagic continues on his development curve and continues to improve, he has a great shot to contribute in the rotation on a very good Warriors team in a few seasons.
[lawrence-related id=8818,8767,8648]