NBA Mock Draft 2017, Week 10: Dennis Smith Jr. to the Sixers

After tearing his ACL before the start of his senior year of high school, North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr. looked like he was still getting his feet under him as he adjusted to the speed of the college game early in his freshman campaign. In general, the 6-foot-3 guard finally seems to be working through the kinks. In the Wolfpack’s 104-78 win over Virginia Tech last week, Smith delivered a triple-double before stumbling against in-state rival North Carolina on Saturday.

Smith is an elite athlete at the point guard spot who is able to use his explosiveness to attack out of the pick-and-roll and in transition. His passing as a ball-dominant lead guard has him leading the ACC in assist rate at 44.4 percent. Most importantly, though, Smith seems to have a workable jump shot from beyond the 3-point arc. He’s converted 38.4 percent of his triples this season while shooting 75.2 percent from the free throw line. On the other end, Smith should be able to use his quickness to create turnovers even if he’s not a positionally versatile defender.

There’s no question that the Sixers are in need of backcourt help and Smith can provide that, but it’s reasonable to be concerned about losing some of his value if Ben Simmons projects to dominate the ball on offense. Smith, though, is the next best player available, again by a decent margin, and could work some crafty pick-and-roll actions with Simmons that would make this work.

Learn more about Dennis Smith Jr. at The Step Back.