Just watch any Zhaire Smith highlight reel. There is close to ZERO skill displayed in any of those. Almost everything is pure, unvarnished athleticism.
^there is only one play that I can categorize as a skill play in this whole video. He's such a weird prospect.... I am having real hard time judging Smith and putting him into a mold that succeeds in the league. He needs to shoot it well for him to have a chance, otherwise he's closer to KJ McDaniels than to Mitchell as some people have been comparing him to.
I have him in my top 10. I am a big fan. Elite athlete, great natural instincts and high bball IQ, good rebounder for his position, good enough passing vision, really good defender, he's not afraid to do the dirty work (set a good screen, fight for a loose ball, relocate to an open spot on the floor or make a smart cut to the rim). He just does a lot of things well and has a lot of tools needed for development. Another thing that I like is that he seems to know who he is as a player right now. So many players at 18, 19 years old start to have success and then try to do things on the court that they don't need to do or aren't good at. Zhaire stays in his lane. I think that if he gets with the right team that has a good development staff that can get him more comfortable with his outside shot, his handles and his ability to create offense for himself then he can be a really good player. At worst I think he'll be a solid role player.