The Philadelphia 76ers traded down to select Zhaire Smith with the No.16 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, a move which also netted the team a future unprotected Miami Heat draft pick.
Of course, as is tradition for the Sixers, Smith was injured with extremely unusual ailments for much of his rookie year, limiting him to only spot minutes down the end of the season and in the 2019 NBA Playoffs.
Now, after a full offseason of rest and recovery, Smith seems poised to be a breakout member of the Sixers off the bench, and head coach Brett Brown had some effusive praise for him.
“Just a pgo stick. … You know, he had one or two plays today where you're like, OK, just an incredibly gifted athlete,” Brown said of Smith, per Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“He's making some shots, he's playing hard. I think we're all going to enjoy, you know, how this plays out with Shake [Milton] and Furkan [Korkmaz] and Matisse [Thybulle] and Zhaire – that's an interesting group. And you know, when you talk about the young guys, I think that he's had a real bounce and has been excellent. Defensively, especially.”
Indeed, the Sixers are likely to have one of the best defenses in the NBA next season, and the efforts on the perimeter off the bench of Smith and rookie Matisse Thybulle will play a huge part in it.
Philly has dealt well with some key losses this offseason, and they appear primed to contend for the title with a young core headlined by Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris.
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