One of the top sophomores in the 2023 NBA Draft, Terquavion Smith improved his volume but still left a bit of efficiency to be desired as the co-star at NC State. As a member of the 2023 All-ACC team as a sophomore, Smith averaged 18 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG, and 2.2 TOPG on splits of 38/33.6/70. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Terquavion Smith
Height/Weight: 6’3 ½ / 165
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’6 ½ / 8’2
Hand size: 8 ½
Position: Guard
Pre-Draft team: North Carolina State
Tools: Shooting, creation ability
Pros:
- Tight handle in traffic
- Good athlete
- Projectable jump shot form
- Quick jumper with insanely deep range
- NBA level P&R passer
- Can play off-ball well
- Good at forcing turnovers defensively
Cons:
- Raw on the defensive end in terms of scheme/discipline
- Needs to improve off ball defense; follows the ball & ball watches too much
- Must add strength/weight
- Settles for bad shots too often
- Can telegraph passes too often
Swing Traits:
- Left hand consistency
- Filling out his frame
- Shot selection toning down or not
Summary:
Terquavion Smith should be a good shooter in the NBA, but the big red flag around his shot is his low free throw percentage, which is often a better indicator than 3P%. While the 3P% woes have reasonable roots, including not being able to even play at the 3 point line because of defenses trying to take away his strengths, the big question Terquavion must answer in the pre-draft process is: how consistent can his shot be? If he shoots well in pre-draft workouts and at his pro day, he should become an easy first round talent.
As a playmaker, Smith is simple, but does know how to use his shooting gravity to create for others. With poor shot selection, both his slashing ability and passing get masked by taking difficult threes against defenders. With a quick first step and creative handles, Terquavion has the ability to get downhill fast against the first line of defense. Proving consistent north-south handles, as opposed to his current mostly east-west handles, will be big, and will help him unlock another level of slashing ability. Additionally, with NBA spacing preventing defensive bigs from camping out in the paint may give another avenue to Terquavion Smith opening up as a three level scorer. His jump shooting is already a weapon, but having an unpredictable driving & shooting combination would significantly improve his efficiency as both a slasher and shooter.
To give perspective of how much of a leap Terquavion Smith needs to make, Synergy provides good stats that paint the picture:
12/38 (31.6%) on drives
23/43 (53.5%) at the rim in the halfcourt; 0 dunks
17/58 (29.3%) on runners in the halfcourt
Defensively, Smith has mild length which could limit him, but he does a good job of forcing turnovers with ease by being able to play the passing lanes. He may struggle on-ball until he gets stronger, but his footspeed should allow him to stay in front of his man enough to put himself in a position to win the possession. Effort and awareness will also be driving forces, since these are areas that he struggled with, in both ball-watching and being out of stance on-ball.
Overall, Smith will have to prove that the context played a key role in his weaknesses, including driving efficiency and shot selection. Otherwise, Smith could fall victim to becoming just another scoring guard with mediocre size that doesn’t latch onto a team in the NBA.
At the NBA Draft combine, Terquavion Smith shot poorly, and had bad shot selection to go along with poor results. Smith was one of the biggest fallers from the Combine, which likely eliminates any chance he had at going first round in June. He made things too hard for himself as a scorer, which many scouts and executives noticed for the first time away from a North Carolina State team where he had to do so. Smith will need to revamp his approach to stick in the NBA and pop in the way players similar to him, like Bones Hyland, have.
Similar to: Bones Hyland
Projected draft range: 40-undrafted
Expected role: Microwave scoring guard
Unplayable if: Shot selection & driving ability don’t improve with a more favorable NBA spacing, and 3 point shooting doesn’t pop enough above average.
Exceeds expectations if: Shooting ability meets expectations, slashing is average or better, and his shooting gravity scales up to help him as a playmaker.
Videos:
Shot chart:
