I liked Smith coming out of college, at least as a sleeper, but even in college he was questioned as being a softie. Not the guy you bring in to shore up a team's defense.
I think you voice legitimate concerns, but I think softie is a bit strong, unless you mean lack of strength in the post, with which I agree. He's and excerpt from draftexpress prior to the draft.
Defensively, Smith gives up position too easily to players he’s matching up with—although there is always the legit possibility that these are direct orders from his coaching staff who can ill afford not having him on the floor. Still, he rarely looks like he’s giving 100% on this end of the floor, not being fully committed to stopping his man and being pushed around far too easily for someone his size. A bit of toughness and character is what we often come away missing from him.
Sifting through the numerous game tapes we acquired, it doesn’t seem like his teammates or coaching staff (who were unsurprisingly fired recently) did him any favors at all, though, which makes him particularly tough to evaluate compared with other players in this draft. Opposing teams knew that shutting him down would almost guarantee a victory, and for this reason he saw countless double teams throughout his career. He also played as a back to the basket center fairly often, even though he obviously projects as a face the basket power forward at the next level. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Colorado State didn’t get anywhere close to the maximum they could out of him, and that his best days are clearly still ahead of him.
Although some might consider this evaluation to be on the harsh side—he really would be considered a lock for the top-5 of the draft if it weren’t for the weaknesses outlined above. Once you get outside of the top 10 portion of the draft, you really don’t find players with the kind of upside Smith has as a super talented athletic 7-footer who is just starting to come into his own as a basketball player. As mentioned, his strengths are extraordinarily unique, while his weaknesses are all for the most part correctable, even though players rarely change their mentality significantly once they become pros. That makes him one of the more high risk/high reward propositions of this draft. Look for him to get serious draft consideration starting around the 10th pick in the draft (Sacramento), but more likely from 16-18, Washington, New Jersey and Golden State—all of which would fit him like a glove. He likely does not fall past pick #21 (Philadelphia), where he reportedly recently had a fantastic workout. Look for him to announce he’s staying in the draft and hiring an agent on or very close to the 18th.
I would have posted the link, but because this article is just one of about 20 under the same link, I decided not to. Anyway, I'm certainly not suggesting that Smith would come in and be the next Mutumbo, but he is young with potential and would come cheap. Right now he looks better at backup center/PF than what we have now, which at center, is nothing. He certainly has the frame to carry more weight. He would be a gamble, but not a very risky one. This is probably much ado about nothing anyway.