The Indiana Pacers announced the signing of Braden Smith to a two-way contract on Monday. Smith joins Jalen Slawson as a player from this year's summer league team to get a deal with the team he spent his time in Las Vegas with.
However, while Slawson was a breakout performer of that squad, Smith struggled to do much of anything. He will slot in next to Slawson and Kobe Brown as the Pacers' now-filled two-way slots and will presumably spend much of the season with the Noblesville Boom.
It's been a while since a player came out of their time in the G-League to produce real success in Indiana. Better players have entered that position and fallen short, losing their careers in the process.
The most recent example is Ethan Thompson, who vacated the two-way spot that Smith now inhabits in order to sign with a Serbian team. The wing prospect showed real promise in three different teams in the G-League before moving to Europe.
Smith has an even harder path than Thompson or Slawson or any of the prospects the Pacers may boast. He is a micro-sized point guard who can neither score at the rim nor at the basket.
While the Purdue legend clearly has fans in the building, he will need to do so much more to be deserving of a real opportunity on the Pacers or elsewhere in the NBA.
Will Braden Smith ever be an NBA-caliber player?
That subtitle may seem like hating, but it feels like a fair question to ask. Smith's best comparison is likely Markquis Nowell. The Kansas State product stood only at 5'7, but got a camp invite and an opportunity with the Toronto Raptors after his senior year ended with individual glory but team failure.
His NBA career unfortunately lasted less than two years.
It's fair to ask if Braden Smith will be a similar story. GM Kevin Pritchard has publicly praised Smith's ability to get his team good shots, but that alone will not be enough to create an NBA opportunity. Even as a high second-round pick, there are no guarantees that the point guard will ever get his chance.
Funny enough, the Pacers do have a massive need in the backup point guard role coming up. Their current option in TJ McConnell is getting older and older while holding up valiantly through injury concerns. If Smith can find a way to become a reincarnated version of the 34-year-old, it would be a slam-dunk pick.
However, that comparison ignores a very important fact:
TJ McConnell has three inches on Smith and attacks the rim with reckless abandon despite his less than stellar height.
There's a lot of work left to be done if Braden wants to factor into future rotation choices. Signing your 38th overall pick to a two-way contract is a very standard way of doing business, especially after Thompson departed.
Turning that 38th overall pick into a player that was worth the assets Indiana traded to move up for him is a whole other question entirely.
To date, Smith has not shown enough for anyone to be confident in saying anything positive about his long-term outlook. He'll have an opportunity in the G-League to change that perception.
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