9 - Alen Smailagic

6-10, 215 Power Forward/Center
Serbia International
Birthday
08/18/00 (23.6 yrs)
Hometown
Belgrade, Serbia
NBA G League Statistics
Athleticism
7
Size
8
Defense
7
Strength
8
Quickness
7
Leadership
7
Jump Shot
8
NBA Ready
6
Rebounding
7
Potential
8
Post Skills
8
Intangibles
8

NBA Comparison: Vladimir Radmanovic

Strengths: Versatile forward/center, with stretch big potential … Showed great adaptability coming all the way from 3rd-tier Regional Serbian Division, holding his ground against grown men in the G-League as a 18 year old … Has a great motor and is not afraid to go against anyone … High basketball I.Q … He is fairly long, with a 7-2 feet wingspan … Better athlete than most people think … His body is still growing … Has already a nice looking physique, with wide shoulders that suggest that his body can fill up nicely … Moves smoothly on the court for a player his size and has good body control … Has nice soft hands that help him catch the ball with ease… He finishes strong at the basket … Has great footwork on the post and a variety of moves … Possesses a nice shooting form and has shown potential as a shooter … He can put the ball on the floor and he is an above average ball handler for his position … Attacks closeouts … Has some interesting moves in his repertoire, including a floater … Sets good screens on and off the ball… Can play the Pick and Roll at a good level, rolling hard to the basket … Has has also shown potential in Pick and Pop situations… Very good offensive rebounder, puts pressure on his opponent, crashing the glass … Has shown promise as a passer out of the double-team and while he is on the move … Smart defender, who knows how to put his body in the post … He moves constantly on defense and has active hands … Good instincts on covering the passing lanes, that help him make some steals… Has good timing when he contests shoots at the rim and can make some blocks…

Weaknesses: He might be a better athlete than most people think, but he is still just an OK athlete by NBA standards … For now he is kind of undersize for a center, but not athletic enough for a power forward … His inexperience and lack of high level competition shows at times, since he has problems reading some situations on both ends of the floor … He kind of rushes things at times, trying to do things too fast… He is indeed fearless, but until he fills up his body he will have problems against bigger, more experienced opponents… His Face-Up game is still a work in progress… Just a streaky shooter for now, he can’t be considered a consistent threat from the perimeter … His ball handling still needs some polishing, because at times he just loses control of the
ball … Has the tendency to put himself in difficult situations, just crushing in bodies when he drives to the basket… His lack of elite athleticism makes it difficult for him to finish in traffic … Just an average defensive rebounder… Has improved, but he still has problems guarding the Pick and Roll, especially if the has to switch on a perimeter player… Below average lateral quickness hurts him when he has to guard on the perimeter … He can lose focus on defense and just standing around after the second or the third defensive rotation … He can’t be considered a rim protector … Needs to trim some baby fat …

Overall: Eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft after playing in the G-League last season … Alen Smailagic was something like a guinea pig in the 2018/19 season … At 18 years old he played in the G-League straight out of a 3rd-Tier Serbian Regional League, with a lot of scouts having an eye on him … The truth is that he hold his ground, showing potential … The Serbian prospect is a competitor by nature… A really smart player, with Stretch Big potential, who can already score in a variety of ways in the post… He is definitely a work in progress and has to work on a lot of things, starting with his defense, but he more than showed that he has NBA potential … Has some Nikola Jokic to his game with long arms, and the perimeter skills to pass and handle the ball …On draft day, the Golden State Warriors acquired the 41st pick from the Atlanta Hawks and there is reason to believe they may use the pick on Smailagic …

Stefanos Makris 6/20/19

 

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