Auburn basketball mailbag: Unprecedented guard depth and a case for Jabari Smith at No. 1 overall

AUBURN — Now that Auburn is in the national spotlight, protecting college basketball's longest win streak, it's time we use a mailbag space to talk hoops.

Auburn (16-1, 5-0 SEC) has a big week with the highly anticipated game against Kentucky (4-3, 4-1) looming Saturday (12:30 p.m., CBS) at Auburn Arena. (Oh right, Georgia visits Wednesday, too.) First, let's take questions.

"Can you pitch me Jabari Smith's case for the first overall pick in the draft?" - Joel Lorenzi, @jxlorenzi

I get the feeling this won't be the last time I write about this topic.

The player against whom Smith will be constantly scrutinized for the next few months is Duke's Paolo Banchero, another versatile 6-foot-10 freshman. Smith has crept into the No. 1 conversation that was long-dominated by Banchero and Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren. The Auburn four is suddenly such a popular dark horse that he's becoming the mainstream pick.

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There are two arguments leading the Smith movement at this point. First, I think he's looking more and more like a better two-way player than Banchero. Smith's learning curve has been impressive. He has a fundamentally sound defensive stance that puts his length and mobility to use, allowing him to guard on-ball against different types of attackers. He has a lean lower body with room to put on more muscle, which should assuage scouts of any concern about his ability to take bumps from NBA bigs. (He's only 18, and he put on 20 preseason pounds after arriving at Auburn.)

Smith is also an increasingly effective help defender. In a standout performance at Alabama, he displayed active hands in transition and anticipated ball screens and pin-downs.

The other obvious reasoning is Smith's stroke. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl offered his highest praise of Smith on Saturday: "I knew he was a great jump shooter. I just didn't know he was going to be best jump shooter I've ever coached."

It's hard to find an 18-year-old with smoother mechanics. Smith catches high and releases high, almost in one motion. He's best as a spot-up or one-dribble pull-up shooter. I saw a recent article by The Ringer offering conjecture that he has trained with popular NBA skills coach Drew Hanlen because of his frequent use of a jab-step to create space. I can confirm they have not worked together, but they would make a fitting teacher-pupil duo once Smith is in the league. Hanlen trains Jayson Tatum, a more fine-tuned comp for Smith's midrange game.

Smith has a habit of forcing pull-up and contested shots when he starts feeling it, but that's natural for a mega-talented teenager, and it's also indicative of his competitive take-over gene. Auburn doesn't need to force feed him with its depth, but when needed, Smith is developing into an elite shot creator. "He's not afraid," Pearl said. "If our guys don't figure out that they need to get him the ball in (clutch) situations and somebody else takes a bad shot, that's going to be a problem."

At this point, a 6-foot-10, 43.7% 3-point shooter with fast-improving defensive skills adds up to an NBA player with a higher floor than Smith's contemporaries.

"When's the last time you've seen a guard rotation that has no major drop across the board? I can only think of some earlier UK and Duke teams from the early 2000s that had this type of depth at guard." - @TigerHistalmos

Trying to think within the last decade, the obvious team that comes to mind is Kentucky in 2014-15. Brothers Aaron and Andrew Harrison started, one year after leading an underdog Final Four run. Devin Booker, who just led the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals, was coming off the bench for Kentucky. Add a freshman Tyler Ulis, who averaged 17 points and broke Kentucky's single-season assist record the next season, and that's an outstanding four-deep backcourt.

Connecticut's 2010-11 team had Kemba Walker averaging 23.5 points, plus Jeremy Lamb. On the bench, freshman Shabazz Napier averaged 7.8 points, beginning a career in which he would lead UConn to another championship. Also in 2010-11, Ohio State had the trio of William Buford, Jon Diebler and David Lighty starting. Future leader Aaron Craft was conference sixth man of the year.

Jay Wright's second Villanova championship team was loaded. Behind Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo waited Phil Booth and young Collin Gillespie. There's a drop there, but only because Brunson was national player of the year.

I also loved last year's Illinois team, with Ayo Dosunmu, Trent Frazier and Adam Miller starting. Andre Curbelo and Da'Monte Williams came off the bench. A loaded mix of youth and experience.

Those are my five entries from 2010 onward. I'm sure I'm missing worthy candidates.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball mailbag: Case for Jabari Smith as No. 1 draft pick