Nick Smith Jr. ‘has earned everybody’s trust’ despite just scratching the surface

We can all admit that sometimes we can be a little too quick to judge a player’s future in the NBA, or any professional sport for that matter. The truth is, everyone doesn’t have it figured out right away and that doesn’t necessarily always translate to said player being a bust.

As a rookie, Charlotte Hornets‘ guard Nick Smith Jr. flashed his potential by shooting the three-ball at an absurd 43%, which led all NBA rookies. Aside from that, there were inconsistencies in his game and areas that needed to be developed.

As Miles Bridges kindly reminded me after the game, Smith was once the top-rated recruit coming out of high school and only played a handful of games in college because of an injury. That high-level ability wasn’t just discovered, it’s always been there.

Earlier this season, Smith saw limited minutes off the bench and was eventually sent to the Greensboro Swarm to continue developing his game. Since his return, he’s been a different player. He’s oozing with confidence and is looking more and more like a first-round pick. With Brandon Miller out for the foreseeable future, Smith will continue to take on a larger role in the Hornets’ offense. Over the last two games (his first two NBA starts), Smith has totaled 34 points while shooting 13/25 from the floor and 8/15 from three.

After his 19-point outing in Monday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks, I asked head coach Charles Lee if he’s noticed anything different in his game now that he’s in an expanded role.

“Same ole Nicky making plays. He is a dynamic offensive player and you can just see he’s earned everybody’s trust. He’s earned that trust because everyone sees how hard he works on a day-to-day basis. They see the talent in him. We all watched his Greensboro minutes and just saw obviously how great of a job he was doing there. I think he had a 33-point game. You just have so much love and appreciation for a guy that cares so much and wants to impact winning and wants to just keep getting better. I think that it’s self-work and preparation by Nick and I think it’s just he’s earned everyone’s respect, so we continue to give him the ball and try to put him in some situations to help us.”

It’s a small sample size, so we don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse here, but if Smith Jr. is able to continue shooting the ball at a highly efficient rate, he’s going to be a key piece of the Hornets rebuild. Is he going to be an all-star caliber player? Who knows? He’s just scratching the surface, and I’m not all that interested in putting a ceiling on a player. That being said, the more reps he gets with the starting unit, the more comfortable he’ll become which will translate to even more production.

“My teammates always been putting confidence in me, even if I’m low,” Smith said. “I just feel like we got a good team. Our locker room is so good. Our coaches believe in us 1000%. That’s what this league is, one person goes down, the next man got to step up. I’m blessed to be in this position and I thank God for it.”

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