Jalen Smith pick the rare blemish on Suns’ record in quick rebuild

Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones more than deserved winning Executive of the Year last season. There was also one move that could have catapulted his case even further that is instead one of the very few blemishes on his record.

That was selecting Maryland big Jalen Smith 10th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, and that little stain was confirmed by the team when it reportedly declined the option on the third year of Smith’s contract.

There are a few places for us to go on this journey but the first is obvious given how that draft class looks now nearly a calendar year later.

Being a great team does not allow nearly as much flexibility as being a bad team. Paying the good players required of a great team erases the majority of the wiggle room a front office can have to upgrade the roster.

That’s why nailing a draft pick in the teens or late first round can really change things for a contender, and why it can hurt with the benefit of hindsight when it doesn’t.

The stinging feeling of that pain for the Suns is the amount of talent they passed on in favor of Smith.

In a draft that seemingly had a drop-off after the first eight or so guys, one of them in Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton (12th overall) fell, a good player now who has a chance to develop into far more than that. The Suns not taking him was bizarre at the time given how perfectly Haliburton seemed to fit as the Suns’ type of player and as a third guard, and it stands out even more a year later given how dependable he looks with the Kings.

But the class had a lot more depth than anticipated, including names like San Antonio’s Devin Vassell (11th), Orlando’s Cole Anthony (15th), Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart (16th) and Saddiq Bey (19th), Toronto’s Precious Achiuwa (20th) and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey (21st) that look the part of rotation players already.

That’s not even getting to New York’s Immanuel Quickley (25th), Boston’s Payton Pritchard (26th), Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels (28th) and Memphis’ Desmond Bane (30th) and Xavier Tillman (35h) who are all there too, and another handful of unmentioned names we shouldn’t cross out yet either.

Turns out, it was a deep draft that could have gifted the Suns a capable player on a cheap contract.

While Smith is not that, it’s hard to let the cement harden on that since we are talking on the first of November and the Suns drafted him on Nov. 19 of last year.

The 21-year-old, who was always more of a developmental pick, clearly was not progressing enough to warrant that $4.6 million salary next season or even $5.9 million the year after. That’s the reality Suns fans need to accept, because we’ve hardly seen Smith on the court, and it’s the Suns’ call based on what they’ve seen working with him. They’d rather save that money and have the roster spot, and you can’t blame ’em.

Is there still a chance he works out in the NBA? Sure, in the same way that was the case for Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Alex Len.

The difference with Smith is that Phoenix is trying to teach him how to play the 4, and we should emphasize teach here because it was a new position for Smith after being a center playing center or center playing power forward for the Terrapins.

There is a world where the Suns have some type of Pascal Siakam situation on their hands or, more realistically, an athletic Dario Saric, but it was not this one.

Smith could still pan out as a 5. Even though he’s undersized, his motor, athleticism and shooting are all skills that translate to desirable areas for today’s centers.

It’s just not going to be in Phoenix. Maybe it would have if the 5 was the focus for Smith, envisioning him as the perfect first big off the bench who could have shared time on the floor with Deandre Ayton as well, surely part of what they saw him as on draft night anyway.

And you have to feel for Smith, a very hard worker who took on the challenge of learning basketball in a new way all during a condensed season without summer league in which he also got COVID-19.

The Suns deserve some credit for taking the risk too. They had a vision to take their type of guy and let their program do the rest.

They picked the wrong draft to do it in, though. Smith’s consensus ranking was not in the lottery, meaning Phoenix was higher on him while also being low enough on other prospects in that range to take him.

There’s that sting again, one that’s far easier to take considering the position the Suns find themselves in as contenders.

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