Terquavion Smith Scouting Report

 

By: Shanku Nair | @shanku_nair on Twitter | October 13, 2022






Vitals

Name: Terquavion Smith
Height: 6'4
Wingspan: 6'6 1/2
Weight: 165 lbs.
Age: 19
Position: Combo Guard*
School: NC State (Sophomore)

Terquavion Smith Strengths/Areas for Improvement

  • Solid athlete, very fast in the open court and has good verticality
  • Serious problem in transition, combination of speed and bounce makes him very hard to stop
  • Plays with a very contagious energy, great motor
  • Shot creation, can create for himself on all 3 levels
  • High volume perimeter shooting, shot 37% from 3 on 8 attempts/game in freshman campaign.
  • Shot off the dribble, catch and shoot, and spot up 3s efficiently
  • Comfortable playing above the rim
  • Great playmaker despite being a score first guard, uses the dribble drive to get into the lane and attract defenders and kicks out to shooters for easy looks
  • Very accurate passer, always puts the ball in a place for teammate to release quickly
  • Suffocating on-ball defender, very pesky and comfortable guarding 1-3
  • Active hands on the defensive end, leads to a lot of deflections and steals
  • Attacks close-outs very effectively
  • Very good in the PnR, quick burst if defender goes over and great vision to find roll man/cutters
  • Touch around the rim needs improvement, shot 36% at the rim
  • Needs better positional awareness on defense, occasionally does not help when in a good position to do so
  • Gets caught ball-watching too much, leads to wide open looks
  • Needs to put on muscle/weight, too weak at 165 lbs.
  • Lacks defensive versatility, only able to guard guys his size and a little bigger
  • Can be too isolation focused at times, forces low-percentage shots

NBA Comparison


A comparable NBA player to Terquavion Smith would be Gary Trent Jr. In terms of frame, Smith is about 40 pounds smaller than Trent Jr. but similar height. In terms of playstyle though, the two are very similar. Both are score first guards that can create on all 3 levels. They both have great athleticism and are comfortable playing above the rim. They are both efficient high volume perimeter shooters that can shoot off the dribble, off the catch, and spotting up. Smith may have a slight edge over Trent Jr. as a playmaker in terms of vision and using their gravity to create for teammates. On the defensive end, they are very similar as well; both are very pesky defenders that generate a lot of problems for ball handlers and play suffocating defense at the point of attack. If Smith is able to put on 20-30 pounds, that would be optimal and would be a much more capable defender at the NBA level. Smith should be a mid to late lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and will make an immediate impact as a score-first role player for any team. 

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