Phoenix Suns: Ranking Each Member of the Young Core by Ceiling

Phoenix Suns Young Core Ranked by Ceiling: Jalen Smith

Given his small sample size, Jalen Smith clocks in as the prospect with the most difficult future to forecast. Something compelled the Phoenix coaching staff to shelve Smith for an entire year even after selecting him with the 10th overall pick a year ago, which certainly breathes concern.

However, his incredibly versatile skillset still presents him a potentially great player down the line.

At six-foot-ten and 215 pounds, Smith certainly possesses the ideal frame for any NBA big man. He still needs to bulk up to a certain degree, but Giannis Antetokounmpo once looked the same way, and the Suns know all too well how he turned out.

More importantly though, Smith possesses something no other Phoenix big man does—the ability to stretch the floor.

Amidst the NBA’s 3-point centric era, spacing the floor remains the most important thing for modern NBA offenses to try and accomplish. Averaging 2.5 3-point attempts per game most recently during the Summer League, and hitting at a 35.7 percent rate, Smith embodies a serviceable threat as a big man from outside, coinciding with the future of the game.

If he bulks up and continues his modest 3-point shooting, the sky is the limit for this prospect still only 21-years-old.