What’s the next level for Nick Smith Jr. look like? Clues abound with shift in roles
Locating Nick Smith Jr. isn’t all that hard these days.
Just scan the court for the guy in the fluorescent-colored sneakers. No, not the bright orange ones radiating like sun flares. That’s LaMelo Ball.
Smith, the Charlotte Hornets’ second-year guard, wears the pink flamingo-shaded footwear, making it awfully difficult for him to hide. And not that he’d want to since he’s a key part of the first unit now, recording his 18th straight start in the Hornets’ 130-88 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Monday night.
There’s a definitive difference in Smith’s game, a bounce representative of the incremental growth that’s occurring in the streaky shooter. He’s scored in double digits in all but one of his last 10 outings, including a 13-point effort against the Kings.
“It’s just me finding my way on this team from earlier this season, me trying to prove myself each and every day to my teammates and especially my coaches,” Smith said. “Obviously, they trust me a little bit more now. I’ve just got to go out there and execute the gameplan.”
Nearly a forgotten man in the rotation once 2024-25 began, Smith is deeply immersed in the mix now, a direct result of circumstance. Once the injury bug began gnawing at the Hornets’ backcourt, further testing the depth, it provided the pathway for the 20-year-old to receive more meaningful minutes.
Over the past month, Smith has shown flashes of why the Hornets drafted him in the first round at No. 27 in 2023 after selecting Brandon Miller second overall. He matched his career high with 24 points against Washington on Feb. 3 and distributed a career-best six assists against the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 27.
Through the Hornets’ nine games in February leading into their outing with Sacramento, he averaged 15.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 31.6 minutes. He also nailed 45.8% of his attempts, canning 37.3% beyond the arc and 90.9% from the free throw line.
This after averaging just 4.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and one assist in 11.3 minutes in December and 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 23.3 minutes in January.
“I’m loving watching his whole journey this year and seeing what he’s done,” coach Charles Lee said. “He’s already made tremendous strides in a lot of different areas. So, really proud of him and really happy for him.”
Smith earned his first career start on Jan. 17, joining the game-opening lineup in a move that coincided with Miller, his AAU buddy, being lost for the season with a right wrist injury that still has him in a cast. Sliding into the starting shooting guard role vacated by Miller’s absence has a bittersweet taste.
“I don’t wish injuries on nobody because I’ve been through injuries myself,” Smith said. “It’s not easy coming back from an injury, but we are basketball players and we’ve got to go through it. I just wanted to come out here and do what my teammates ask me.”
On both sides of the ball.
Smith’s offensive prowess is unquestioned. But a laser-like focus is needed in another area.
“Defensively, that’s going to be his next kind of mission to improve upon,” Lee said. “We’ve had some good conversations and he’s been challenged in that area. And knowing Nick and knowing the competitor he is, he’s going to respond with a little more resistance, a little more physicality.
“The grit, the toughness, the energy that he has on the offensive end, I just want to see that same kind of mindset — how the young kids say, ‘Keep that same energy’ — I want that same energy down at the defensive end, too.”
Which is partially why the Hornets sent Smith to refine things in the G League with the Greensboro Swarm in December. In five games, Smith averaged 23 points, four rebounds and 2.8 assists.
It’s not really about statistics at that level, though. Developing strong habits is more important.
“It for sure helped me out,” Smith said, “just the simple fact that it’s great guys there that wanted nothing but the best for me and I wanted nothing but the best for them. They are great guys and it was pretty much easy for me to go down there and work on my game, do what I had to do.
“Just tried to treat it as that’s my team down there. And we were winning games.”
One learned lesson while with the Swarm has been extremely beneficial for Smith.
“Just being more mentally worried about the next play and not really being too very emotional about plays down the stretch that didn’t go your way,” Smith said. “Just stay even-keeled with it. And obviously I got better down there basketball-wise, but I just wanted to mentality-wise get better and try to improve from where I was last year.”
He’ll look to do that throughout the rest of his sophomore pro campaign, which continues in San Francisco on Tuesday against Golden State in the penultimate matchup of a nine-game road trip wrapped around the All-Star break. It’s been quite the exhaustive excursion and seems never-ending.
“I don’t like it — I want to go to sleep in my bed,” Smith said. “But that’s the NBA. When the schedule comes out, that’s what it is. We’ve got to stick to that. We’ve got to come out here and play. We’ve got to come out here and try to win for sure.”
