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Maryland sophomore Jalen Smith won’t say which teams worked on him in person, but he doesn’t have to. The interest of the Nets is real and obvious.
Brooklyn was one of the first teams to interview the 20-year-old power forward, who admits he grew up emulating Kevin Garnett and dreams of playing alongside Kevin Durant. And with the Nets holding the 19th pick in Wednesday’s draft, it’s clear why they’re doing their due diligence on Smith.
“I spoke with the whole front office. They are great guys, ”Smith said Thursday via Zoom. “They were just telling me how many movies they were watching about me, things that they see that I need to improve.
“They just said the main idea to get into the league and get ready to work, and whatever obstacles are in front of me, [is] that you have to be able to hit hard and not back down. That was the main emphasis of what they told me.
Despite being asked to play out of position last season, Smith was All-Big Ten as a center averaging 15.5 points, 10.5 boards, 2.4 blocks, shooting 36.8% of 3.
Asked about the possibility of being drafted by the Nets, Smith said, “Just being able to play with KD is a dream come true.” But he cited another Kevin – Garnett, who played in Boston and Minnesota – as a role model for his game.
“Growing up, I was always a huge fan of Kevin Garnett,” Smith said. “I love the way he plays. I looked at him because I feel like we have the same body, the same height, the same weight.
“He always had that energy and intensity on the pitch that couldn’t be matched by anyone else. He was pretty much crazy on the pitch, and that’s how I behave on the pitch, being just that crazy person who goes to work hard. He was one of the people I turned to for my work ethic.
When it comes to this similar body type, Smith’s agile 215-pound figure as a rookie has earned him the nickname “Stix.” After adding 10 books, he switched to “Logs”.
“They gave me these nicknames because of the mass I was putting on, the muscle. That’s why they started saying I was logs rather than sticks because logs are a lot thicker than sticks, ”said Smith, still working on his lower body.
“My lateral speed, which has been a main objective this offseason, to make everything more fluid, to work on my footwork. Being able to babysit a lot of guards who have been through the gym during the summer has helped me a lot.
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