Nick Smith Jr.’s NBA path has hit another reset button, and this one takes him overseas.
The former Charlotte Hornets first-round pick is headed to Spain to join Real Madrid, a move that comes after brief stints with the Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers failed to turn into a long-term home. Smith Jr., who is still just 22, now gets a chance to rebuild some momentum with one of Europe’s most established clubs.
It’s a notable turn for a player Charlotte took with the 27th pick in the 2023 NBA draft, a selection that has only looked rougher with time. Smith Jr. entered the league with plenty of buzz, but the circumstances around his rise were never simple. Coming out of high school, he drew major praise and was viewed as the top prospect heading into college in 2022.
That momentum stalled almost immediately at Arkansas. A knee injury surfaced before his season could really get going, and he ended up playing in only 17 games during the 2022-23 campaign.
The stops and starts made it hard for him to find any rhythm, and the numbers reflected that. He shot 37.6% from the field.
From Charlotte’s side, the appeal was understandable at the time. The Hornets were looking at a player available late in the first round who clearly had offensive upside, even if his lone college season had been derailed before it ever had a real chance to take off.
But the NBA has been less forgiving. Smith Jr. did have some scoring success in the G League, yet that production didn’t carry over in a way that locked down a spot on an NBA roster.
Against top-level physicality, he struggled to hold up. His jumper remains the cleanest part of his game, especially from three-point range, but that alone hasn’t been enough.
Real Madrid could offer a different kind of environment. The club already has multiple former NBA players under contract, including ex-Hornets guard Théo Maledon, and Smith Jr. now joins a setting where he won’t be asked to carry everything on his own. Real Madrid head coach Pedro Martinez had this to say about the development and role of NSJ in his system:
The fit makes sense for a player whose time in the NBA often looked unfinished. Smith Jr. didn’t always seem ready when he was on the floor with the Hornets, in part because he lacked strength and in part because he had trouble settling into a role on a team trying to win.
That’s not all on him. He came into the league with huge expectations, had just one injury-marred college season, and landed with a Hornets team dealing with its own problems. Now he gets a fresh start with a powerhouse in Europe, where the demands are different and the pressure is less about proving he can be a savior and more about fitting into a winning structure.
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