Smith was selected by the Hornets with the 27th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Smith has great size for a lead guard at 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan. In his lone season at Arkansas, Smith showed a ton of promise on the offensive end and finished with averages of 12.5 points, 1.7 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 three-pointers on 37 percent shooting from the field. A knee injury that forced him to miss 19 games limited his burst, but he projects to be instant offense off the bench in Charlotte behind LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier.