NSJ draft article from 247

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A TEARY-EYED NCAA TOURNAMENT

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Smith's return helped boost Arkansas to earn a No. 8 seed in the Big Dance. The Razorbacks waxed Illinois in the first round and stunned defending champion Kansas in the Round of 32 to advance to a third-straight Sweet 16; they did this without much help at all from Smith. In fact, Arkansas was actually better when Smith was on the bench in the NCAA Tournament. He didn’t score a single point in the wild, 72-71 upset victory over the Bill Self-less Jayhawks.

After the victory, Smith was in tears in the locker room.

“It’s just emotional because I came back to be a part of something great, bro,” Smith told reporters. “The team did what they were supposed to do. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

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A COMPLICATED NBA EVALUATION

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Evaluating Smith is no easy task. Blame it on the rust or the knee injury, but Smith’s tape from his freshman season isn’t clean. The defensive mistakes are obvious. Smith struggled to finish at a high clip at the rim. He shot under 40% on twos.

There’s no doubt that there would be far less questions about Smith’s game if he chose not to play. No one would’ve blamed him if he opted to sit out and blame the injury (which other players have done in the past) in an effort to solidify his spot alongside Miller, Cam Whitmore, the Thompson twins and Black in the NBA Lottery conversation.

When Smith takes a peek at mock drafts, he sees guys he was rated higher than just a year ago — guys he is probably better than — who are projected to be more coveted by NBA franchises.

He knows why. There’s money to be made as a mystery man in the NBA Draft. Smith forfeited that by choosing to play. His easy-to-explain flaws were on display for the whole world to see.

In coming back midseason, Smith accepted the reality that it was sink-or-swim time. He dove in headfirst. Smith was forced to swim with a Navy Seal-like, 100-pound pack strapped to his knee in a pool full of blood-thirsty sharks. What did you expect? Smith returning and magically playing like a polished lottery pick after a seven-week absence would have been fairytale stuff. It was always unrealistic.

Smith hopes that act of vulnerability actually helps his stock. Will it? Let's ask him.

“Probably not,” Smith told 247Sports at the NBA Draft Combine, pausing to mull the next part of his answer. “But who cares. I’m going to play the game I love and I’m going to control what I can control. Did it help or did it not help? It probably doesn’t matter at this point.”

It’s a mature reflection from a man who just celebrated his 19th birthday last month.

“Nick is a competitor,” Anthony Black said. “I wasn’t surprised he came back. I live with him, so we were talking about it all the time. I just respect him a lot for coming back and putting his health and his stock on the line to try and help us win. I got a lot of respect for that, even though some people thought he should have stayed out, I respect him for coming back.”

Smith can still reach those lofty heights set by previous No. 1 recruits. He’s still living his dream. Smith will hear his name called on draft night. He joked at the combine about how surreal it was to be interviewed by The Athletic’s David Aldridge, who is prominently featured in NBA2K. Smith’s mild-mannered smile during media availability does a good job of hiding that fire that comes out every time he laces it up. It’s impossible to ignore.

The access to hate has never been higher in the social-media-dominated stratosphere. That graphic is coming. Smith will likely have to live with being the outlier on draft night compared to his No. 1 peers. Despite the noise about sitting out, or the racket about his iffy freshman season film, Smith isn’t entering the draft feeling misunderstood or misrepresented.

“Nah, not really,” Smith said. “Just try to prove it to myself that I am who I say I am. That’s going to be that.”

Smith knows the NBA is a business. Maybe he made a bad business decision to return to the floor. But Smith hopes it shows an NBA front office that he cares deeply about winning above anything else.

“I never try to disrespect the game, never take this game for granted,” Smith said. “This game has brought me a lot of ways that I never really thought. Just being very serious about it. I wanted to come back and play. I love this game.”

Smith believes he showed how much he loves basketball by choosing to return. We’re about to find out just how much the beautiful game loves him back.

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He seems like a good kid but there was obviously way more going on behind the scenes than most of us know about.

NIL had a lot to do with everything. Just leave it at that.. It's water under the bridge now.

Hope he does well in the NBA and can go develop into something great.

He's got some character scars now, and that's probably a good thing for the world he is about to enter.

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He seems like a good kid but there was obviously way more going on behind the scenes than most of us know about.

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In other words, pure speculation on your part.

Your post is a backhanded compliment followed up with some virtue signaling.

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Just leave it at that

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Like you did?

Nick was told by the Hunts that he signed an NIL deal to PLAY basketball at Arkansas.

Thats not a conspiracy.

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Pocket Kingz

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Knew you'd come in here and shite up the joint.

These paid nsj excuse think piece articles popping up everywhere