Harris-Smith entered his freshman season at Maryland with significant draft buzz.
DeShawn Harris-Smith, a 6’5 guard/wing entered his freshman season with significant hype and was on many preseason NBA Draft boards as a potential one-and-done candidate. Unfortunately for Harris-Smith and the Terps, last season did not go according to plan.
Harris-Smith started 30 of 33 games and played about 30 minutes per game. For the season, he averaged 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and .9 steals. Those are solid numbers for a freshman in a physical league like the Big 10 Conference where younger players often struggle to adjust. He made a positive impact on the defensive end of the court, which is also not typical for a freshman.
The real trouble came on the offensive side of the ball, where he struggled with his shooting from all areas of the court. He shot 36.8% from the field overall, 20.2% from three-point range, and 58% from the free-throw line. Harris-Smith joined me on the latest episode of the Bleav in DMV Hoops podcast and we talked a lot about how his shooting woes were largely mental last season and what he’s done to try to correct that this season.
He’ll have to make major strides offensively to have any chance at playing at the next level. Fortunately, his defensive upside and connective passing should appeal to NBA teams enough to keep him on their watch lists.
He also shared which players he watches to try to emulate and adopt aspects of their games. Harris-Smith, who profiles as a strong, mobile perimeter defender, said he’s been watching a lot of Jrue Holiday and Bruce Brown. Holiday is a good comp as a strong and sturdy perimeter defender and Brown makes sense as an undersized, do-it-all forward with some secondary playmaking abilities. He should also get more on-ball reps this season so we’ll see if he can emulate someone like Markelle Fultz as a playmaking, point-of-attack stopper.
Harris-Smith also shared some interesting updates on freshman center Derik Queen, who is currently a projected first-round pick on most mock drafts. Queen, a 6’11 center out of Baltimore, joins the Terps out of Montverde Academy where he formed a dominant frontcourt with Duke freshman Cooper Flagg.
Queen has soft touch scoring around the basket, a projectable jump shot, and has drawn some “Baby Jokic” comparisons due to his creative passing. Because many NBA scouts will be keeping close tabs on Queen throughout the year, it should provide Harris-Smith with ample opportunity to show teams that last season’s struggles were a fluke.
By all accounts out of College Park, Harris-Smith is an exceptionally hard worker and doing everything he can to continue to hone his skills and his body. From listening to him you can tell he’s also very self-aware, another helpful trait for someone looking to improve their deficiencies, even if it takes longer than this season. At least the very least he’s another intriguing local talent the Wizards should continue to keep an eye given their proximity and likely interest in Queen.