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Jalen Smith, former Maryland star, reportedly lands multi-year deal in NBA free agency
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Jalen Smith was traded during his second NBA season after becoming a top-10 pick. Fortunately, that trade worked out alright, and Smith has apparently found a home to grow his game.
Smith was the No. 10 overall pick of the Phoenix Suns during the 2020 NBA Draft. After a lackluster rookie season and limited playing time to begin Year 2, the Suns traded Smith to the Indiana Pacers.
Smith quickly found a valuable role off the bench with the Pacers, averaging 13.4 points per game in 24.7 minutes played. Now, Smith is returning to Indiana via free agency.
Per NBA insider Shams Charania, Smith is coming back to the Pacers on a two-year contract in free agency. Michael Ginnitti with Spotrac also reported the value of that deal is just over $9.5 million.
Free agent center Jalen Smith has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Indiana Pacers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2022
Details of the Jalen Smith deal: 2 year / $9,573,828 contract with the Indiana #Pacers, per @spotrac.
— Zach Pearson (@zapearsonNBA) July 2, 2022
After joining Indiana, Smith appeared in 22 games (4 starts) and averaged 13.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and a block while shooting 53% from the field. It will be interesting to see if Smith can improve on those numbers and carve out a bigger role for himself during the 2022-23 season.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.