Braden Smith Q&A: People are always going to say I'm too small, but I've succeeded at every level
Braden Smith is something of a throwback at the collegiate level. In the era of NIL, he played his entire four-year career at Purdue, setting the Division I all-time assists record. He did it all despite being listed at 5-foot-10. Then the basketball gods smiled on him: his hometown Indiana Pacers traded into the second round and took him with the 38th pick.
Through a partnership with AT&T, Smith documented his reaction to being drafted by the Pacers in the company of the people who mattered to him. He spoke with HoopsHype about a range of topics, including the grueling draft process he went through, playing with Zach Edey, preparing to play for Rick Carlisle, finding success while undersized, and more.
What was it like landing in your home state of Indiana?
Braden Smith: It was awesome. Obviously, just being able to be 30 minutes from downtown Indiana and being able to be close to home, be close to family, be close to friends, be close to really everything… It’s awesome. And I’ve grown up here. I’ve been in two great communities: my high school years in Westfield and Purdue during my college years.
So just to combine the two and make it all one and make it Indy for however long I’m here. Hopefully it’s my whole career, but obviously things happen, but to be home and to be in Indy is a great deal.
Throughout the draft process with the combine and pre-draft workouts, were you confident in yourself that you would be drafted, or were you going into it not really sure what to expect?
BS: I think it’s a mixture of both. Obviously, like you have confidence if you’re a basketball player trying to make it at a very high level, or else you wouldn’t make it in that world. So obviously to some aspect, you have some sort of level of confidence. I had that, and I always knew that it would happen because I put a lot of time in and worked really hard in doing so.
When and where was kind of the question, and I think for me just to be able to sit back too, because at the end of the day, it’s not in my hands. It’s in somebody else’s hands on my future, and you just got to trust that and trust everything that you put in before that and during that… and just hope it all works out.
During the combine, you mentioned that you watched a lot of TJ McConnell growing up. Now being his teammate and with you both being undersized in the NBA… Have you gotten a chance to speak with him yet?
BS: Yeah, we’ve talked. I’ve talked to a decent number of my teammates, and being able to get to know everybody, but also learn from them early on, has been nice. But obviously, someone like TJ and I are pretty similar, so he’s going to be one of those guys that we’re going to have to connect with, and I’m going to have to learn from and obviously be able to be a part of.
Has there been anything that he’s told you so far that’s stuck out to you already?
BS: No, not really, to be honest. Obviously, he has his offseason, and that’s where he’s at right now. And I’m here trying to work out and get ready for Summer League, so we’re kind of on two different schedules here. But maybe in a month or so, when the guys start rolling back into town and stuff, I’ll be able to actually pick his brain and figure out what to work on, what to do. When you get actually one-to-one in person, I think it’s a little bit better than just sending stuff over text, so kind of just waiting for that.
Speaking of Summer League, what do you expect there, and what do you hope to achieve?
BS: I think it’s just a good time to go and compete. You’re going out, you’re playing basketball, and having fun while doing that. So, for me, I think that’s just my goal, go out and play good basketball, but at the same time you’re trying to prove and earn your way onto a team and do all that, so I think for me, it’s just as simple as that.
You mentioned at the combine that you felt like you were one of the better playmakers in the draft, and now you’re on the same team with one of the best playmakers in the league in Tyrese Haliburton. What parts of his game do you want to emulate, or maybe hope he can give you a few pointers?
BS: Yeah, I think it’s just more about experience than anything. Obviously, you make reads on your own because he can’t go out and make reads for me, and I can’t go out and make reads for him. I think that’s where the instincts come in, but I think for the most part, it’s just dealing with certain stuff, dealing with how to take care of your body off the court, how to put more time in maybe certain aspects of the game.
It’s more stuff like that, like the intangible stuff rather than the bigger pieces that you would think, like on-the-court stuff, because that’s going to settle itself. And I think also it could help with learning plays, learning the system, learning defensive, whatever it is, adjustments, defensive coverages, all that stuff. I think that’s where you can kind of learn and pick people’s brains.
You played with Zach Edey at Purdue, and now you’re playing with Ivica Zubac in Indiana. They’re both traditional back-to-the-basket, post-up guys, which is rare in today’s league. What aspects of your game do you feel translate well from when you played with Edey to now, hopefully with Zubac?
BS: Obviously, two big dudes and being able to play with those guys and learn how to play with them. I think it was important for me, especially early on in my first two years of college, to be with Zach. So I think it just sets you up because if you are trying to go play in the league and do those things, that’s who you’re going to get. Those are the type of guys you’re going to have to play with and learn to play with, so for me, I think it’s just a head start to that.
Obviously, having Zubac on the team and being able to play with another guy very similar to that. I think it only benefits me even more because I already know how to play with a caliber player like that, and it really just makes it that much better.
With the NBA being more of a pace-and-space game than the college level, how do you think that will affect your game as you transition to the NBA?
BS: I think it’s going to help tremendously. It is going to help; I just feel like the more space I have, the more it helps me out. Just because I’m able to go out and use my speed, use my knowledge, use all that stuff to be able to manipulate certain things. So for me, honestly, it makes the game easier and makes reads a little bit easier. When you’re playing with guys that can all shoot and playing with the bigger floor.
And you feel like just being able to run down the court at pace will better fit how you play?
BS: Yeah, 100 percent. Obviously, whatever the coach wants me to do, I’m here to figure that out and learn that. And for the most part, it’s been that so far. It’s just playing quicker, which I’m capable of doing, and doing all that. So for me, it’s not really that big of a change and adjustment.
Rick Carlisle has been known to be a coach who’s tougher on his rookies. Are you kind of scared of that, or are you embracing that?
BS: No, you’ve got to embrace it. I mean, at the end of the day, you’ve got to come in and earn it. You’ve got to come in, and you start back on ground zero, really. You’ve got to build your way up and earn that. I think that’s where I will succeed and be good at because I’ve had to do that at every level I’ve been a part of.
So for me, it’s just a simple game of doing the right things. And what helps is like playing in a system and a good system, like I was at Purdue. The Pacers have a good system, I can adjust and fit well in that. So I think for me, it’s very easy to just go out there and play free and whatever happens, happens.
Throughout your high school career and college, how often did you have doubts in yourself, maybe being undersized, or did you always have confidence in yourself that you’ll succeed where you went?
BS: I’ve always had confidence in myself to succeed in any spot or position I’ve been in. Obviously, in the NBA you play with a lot of bigger people, but at the end of the day, it’s not all that. It is if you can play basketball, you understand things. It’s being able to make reads, make plays, and do other things other than just size. I think I’ve proven, obviously, at the college level, that that doesn’t matter. There’s ways that you can still compete and play without having to worry about size. Because at the end of the day, I think competing, that aspect gets overlooked, and it’s hard to measure, but for me, that’s where I succeed and prove.
You see a guy like Jalen Brunson, leading his team to win the title. Throughout his career, people have talked about him being undersized. When you see that, does it tell you, ‘Hey guys, it doesn’t matter how big you are as long as you have the heart and can make the right reads, it really doesn’t matter what size you are’?
BS: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is, and obviously, him doing that last year and with [Ryan] Nembhard on the Mavericks. I think with him playing as well as he did, I think that helps. TJ [McConnell], the year before, when they went on their Finals run, helps. It just shows that it’s kind of making a little bit of a comeback.
I think it’s the right way to play basketball, one. But two, you need those guys who understand the game and it’s not just off of athleticism and just because you can go run and dunk type of thing, more than people that actually understand basketball.
What’s the most important piece of advice that anyone’s given to you throughout your basketball journey?
BS: I think for me, it’s to never give up on myself in a way. Like, no matter what people say, you just got to go out there and continue to prove yourself right in a sense. Because at the end of the day, people are always going to say, I’m too small, I won’t be able to play, and they’ve said that at every level, and I’ve risen above those occasions at each level, and have done, honestly, things that people haven’t done ever. So, for me, I think it’s just the same thing, just at another level.
What are your goals for your rookie season?
BS: I think just to find myself in a rotation. That’s really it, being able to get minutes and to help them win games because I know I can do that. I know I can help these guys out, and I think for me, that’s got to be my job, but also to be able to score and be efficient.
How about for your career?
BS: Obviously win. I mean, that’s the biggest thing you want as a competitor, and as a guy who wants to win everything they do, you want to win. I think that’s one, but also, I think just being a part of a winning culture, a winning team, I think that’s just important. Obviously like everybody could say, oh yeah, MVP, this and that, but I think being realistic and having those things is like, okay, well how can I just go in and impact the game of basketball and do that to the best of my ability.
Who’d be your all-time starting five?
BS:Steph Curry at the one. Michael Jordan at the two. I think I would go LeBron, the three, KD, the four, and Shaq, the five.
And in terms of the best player of all-time, who would you go there and why?
BS:Michael Jordan. I think just watching basketball, it’s close between LeBron and Jordan, but for me, I just think Jordan, winning. I think people who actually watch basketball and understand basketball. I think a mindset is one of those things that can’t get measured, and I think having that mindset is something that’s important.
You recorded a draft reaction in collaboration with AT&T. Can you speak a bit to that?
BS: Yeah, I mean, obviously being drafted is a huge deal, and obviously it’s something I’ve wanted to accomplish in my life. Being able to partner with AT&T while doing so, and with the reputation they have, and the reputation the draft has, the combining of the two is what was needed, and I thought it was nice to have and be a part of. At the same time, just achieving your dreams and goals all in one.
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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Braden Smith Q&A: People are always going to say I’m too small, but I’ve succeeded at every level
