Hornets' backcourt jam puts Nick Smith Jr. firmly on the trade radar

The Charlotte Hornets have a surplus of guards, and with the team signing all four of its draft picks to standard contracts, they are four over the 15-man roster limit. This means more moves are on the way, and one player who is likely to be involved in trade talks is third-year guard Nick Smith Jr.

"According to NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype, Smith Jr. is a player they believe could be attainable on the trade market from Charlotte’s backcourt," Michael Scotto of HoopsHype recently reported.

The Hornets selected Smith with the 27th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft after an injury-filled freshman season at Arkansas. The former No. 1 player in the 2022 recruiting class showed flashes of his potential as a rookie in spot minutes, finishing the year with the highest three-point shooting percentage of all rookies (34%).

In his sophomore season, Smith was called upon to start in 27 games due to a long list of injuries and while he increased his scoring average to 9.9 points per game, he wasn't as efficient shooting it (34% from three) and turned it over nearly twice as much as he did as a rookie. Defensively, he's a bit of a liability and offers very little hope that he'll turn it around and become an average player on that end of the floor.

There will be teams out there who are willing to take a chance on the former top prep player in the country, turned first-round pick. With Charlotte needing to shrink its roster by four, don't be surprised to see Smith involved in a trade package with another player (possibly Josh Okogie) to land another piece to the frontcourt.

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