3 reasons Jalen Smith should be considered in 2020 NBA Draft if Cavs acquire another first-rounder

Reason #1: Rim protection

Smith is not the same specimen on the interior of the aforementioned Fernando, who is 240 pounds. Smith’s nickname has been “Stix,” due to his naturally skinny build.

That said, he’ll continue to gain functional strength in coming years and is now 225 pounds, and likely will gain a bit more good weight to be capable of defending against NBA interior scorers.

Terps head coach Mark Turgeon now apparently calls Smith “Logs,” because of the weight he’s gained since high school, per a report from the Baltimore Sun‘s Don Markus.

I’m a big believer in Smith’s ability to protect the rim. He had a career-high five blocks against Notre Dame, as noted by Sports Reference.

For a Cavs team that, outside of the oft-injured Henson, who I don’t see as a long-term piece in the rotation, anyhow, needs rim protection in the worst way, Smith would make complete sense in a developmental way.

Again, that’s if Cleveland can acquire another, presumably lower, first-round pick from feasibly trading Thompson or Clarkson.

Smith averaged a solid 1.2 blocks per game his freshman year at Maryland, and so far this season, he’s posted 2.3 rejections per contest, according to Sports Reference. To begin 2019-20, he has a more than healthy block rate of 9.9%, for reference.

You can see some of that timing when blocking shots in these highlights from last season.

Smith has impressive instincts as a rotator, which relates to him frequently erasing interior shot attempts from drivers (of course he didn’t get then-LSU’s Tremont Waters in the NCAA tournament, though).

That’s something that could really help the Cleveland Cavaliers, considering the likes of Sexton, Garland and Osman are routinely beaten off-the-bounce and have issues keeping perimeter players out of the paint. Paired with that, Cleveland has a difficult time helping those young pieces in those situations due to a lack of frontcourt resistance.

Smith’s 7-foot-1.5 wingspan, and also feel for being in the right position to contest interior shots, and clear the glass (he’s had 9.8 boards per game thus far this year), would make him a solid defensive piece for Altman and the Cavs to target.

Again, this is likely in the realm of the Cavaliers getting another lower first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft via trade to go with their top-10 protected pick, which they are virtually guaranteed to have.

Considering the Cavs have only seven players currently signed to be on the roster next season, according to Spotrac (though Zizic maybe coming back would make eight) and should have plenty of cap space next offseason and really in coming years, as Fedor hit on, they’ll be able to have a bad contract player added to their books going into 2020-21 via trade. With that, I’d think they should be able to snag another lower first-rounder in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Again, with that pick, feasibly in the low or mid-20’s, a promising 4 man in Smith would make a ton of sense.