NBA Draft: How Good Can Magic Target Jabari Smith Be?

The newly turned 19-year-old spent one season at Auburn, where he averaged 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2 assists.

If the Orlando Magic were forced to make the first overall selection in the next 24 hours, the consensus is they would take Auburn forward Jabari Smith.

Luckily, general manager Josh Hammond and his organization don’t have to worry about that, and still have about three weeks to decide who their franchise player will be.

ESPN’s @DraftExpress says NBA teams believe it’s “all but assured” Orlando will pick Jabari Smith Jr & the “overwhelming expectation” is OKC will draft Chet Holmgren.

He says Holmgren is thrilled.

Nobody ever knows what OKC will do. But Givony is very plugged in on the draft.

— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) May 24, 2022

Prior to the college basketball season, Smith was still seen as a lottery pick, but most way-too-early mock drafts saw him going anywhere between the fourth and seventh pick.

So what made the one-and-done, who spent a season under Bruce Pearl in Auburn, seem like a must-have for this Magic organization.

To put it into a word: ceiling.

There is no doubt there will be some long-term NBA starters coming out of this year's draft, but none of which seem to have the potential as Smith.

Already possessing a high smooth shooting release that is near impossible to contest with his 6-10 frame, Smith should not have any issues getting good looks over smaller defenders at the next level.

What really stands out is just how much potential he has on the defensive side of the ball.

While his block numbers at Auburn may not stand out, being teammates with Walker Kessler, who ranked second in the NCAA with over 4.5 per game certainly didn't help in that aspect.

Despite this, Smith possesses a rare combination of quickness, length and basketball IQ that has the making of future all-defensive team selections. More often than not, making the best decision on that end even if it doesn’t stand out on the box score.

There is still plenty of room for Smith to grow as a basketball player, which is a scary sight if you watched any Auburn basketball last season.

But what stands out about him is this, there is no telling just how good he can be.