Healthy Smith ready to take his best shot
CAMDEN, N.J. >> A year after he was projected to quickly join a higher class of basketball company, Zhaire Smith Monday was back at another Sixers minicamp for rookies and other NBA dreamers.
One of his first moves: To throw down a slam. The reason? Not that long ago, it wasn’t that simple.
Smith was the Sixers’ highest 2018 Draft Night prize, having arrived in an exchange for the earlier-drafted Mikal Bridges. The Texas Tech product, it was said, had a Kawhi Leonard-like skill set. And even if that was a bit ambitious, he was in position to provide some wing scoring and defense for a team determined to make a run at the NBA Finals.
By August of his first NBA summer, though, Smith sustained a Jones fracture in his foot. With that, his career would be delayed. Then, while in recovery, he was stricken by such a serious allergic reaction to sesame that he
suffered dramatic loss of weight … and of NBA stature.
“My body went through a whole lot,” Smith said. “It took my whole athleticism. When I first came back, I tried to dunk. That didn’t go very well. I had to do that all over again.”
Little went right for Smith as a rookie. The Sixers, though, were impressed by his determination. Willing to work his way through the G League, he managed to get into six NBA games, starting two. He played a total of five minutes in two postseason games. The physical challenges had left him too far behind to contribute. So with that, he was back again with the rookies Monday, looking to use the NBA summer league to push into a significant role on a team with plentiful bench opportunities.
“It’s exciting to me,” said Connor Johnson, who coached Smith with the GLeague Blue Coats and will guide the Sixers in the summer. “He is a guy that is getting better every day. He’s getting so much stronger and is kind of getting comfortable in his body.
“You can see his athletic ability, especially at the defensive end. In my opinion, he has an unbelievable ability to stay in front of the ball, fight through screens and be an on-ball, point-of-attack defender. We saw some of that last year. And we look forward to similar success once we start playing in Vegas.”
While the Sixers have gone well past the developing-players phase of their lengthy and controversial rebuilding project, they could use some outside shooting and capable depth. And they cannot afford to deny that opportunity to a player selected No. 16 overall in a draft.
Smith said he has spent the last couple of months working on his shooting, and he was among those lingering after practice Monday to engage in shooting drills.
“I have been putting in hard work and it feels good,” he said. “I wanted to work on my all-around game, my ball handling, my defense, everything, having the whole package.”
Among the purposes of the minicamp is to acclimate the first-year players to the Sixers’ demands, play calls and on-court assignments. With 2018-2019 holdovers Shake Milton and Haywood Highsmith among 16 practicing Monday, Smith was able to show command of those principles.
“I think his team won most of the games, so I wasn’t too happy with him today,” said 2019 first-round pick Matisse Thybulle, with a smile. “I was just watching him because he knows the rotations better than I do at this point. I was trying to mimic him, with his footwork and how he tries to attack the ball defensively.”
The Sixers are too heavily invested in both Smith and Thybulle not to have space for both.
“I know we have a talented group of people,” Smith said. “So I am just trying to do the little things just to help, especially on the defensive end.”
At this point, he is thankful to be physically able to help at all.
“I already know how the NBA game is,” he said. “I know about the summer league, the regular season and the playoffs. I know what intensity it can bring. Last year, I was able to get some experience. Without that, it would have been like starting over. But it was good to get out there today.
“Now,” he said, “I’m all good.”
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On the second day of free agency, the Sixers continued to add size, signing bulky 6-10 veteran center Kyle O’Quinn to a one-year contract at the veteran minimum, a source said.
With previous experience with the Magic and Knicks, O’Quinn averaged 3.5 points in 45 games last season with the Pacers. The 28-year-old from Norfolk State has averaged 5.6 points in 443 NBA games.
The minimum salary for an eighth-year pro is $2.3 million.