Mavericks seek instant impact from top pick
N.C. State guard Smith expected to accelerate organization’s revival.
When you toss the keys to your team to a 19-year-old point guard, you are officially entering a new era. It’s about time. With teams all over the NBA getting younger and faster, the Mavericks jumped into the speed game and got much, much younger in the process by selecting 6-foot-3 Dennis Smith Jr. with the ninth pick in Thursday night’s NBA draft.
Coach Rick Carlisle made clear what the Mavericks are expecting with their highest draft pick in Mark Cuban’s ownership tenure.
He went so far as to call Smith “our kind of guy.” And he’s the sort of point guard who will be entrusted with engineering the revival of this organization over the coming two or three seasons.
“We’re getting a guy who is an instant-impact guy,”
Carlisle said. “He has great quickness. He’s explosive. He can score. He can pass. He has a hit-first personality. He wants to be great.
“Before anybody asks, I would project him as a starter. But he’s going to have to earn it. And he under- stands that. This is a historic night for us.”
The Mavericks said they had Smith rated higher than ninth and were sweating whether he would be on the board when they picked.
When the New York Knicks took Frank Ntilikina with the eighth pick, President of Basketball Operations Don- nie Nelson said there was a lot of chest-bumping going on in the Mavericks’ draft room, including some by Dirk Nowitzki.
Smith averaged 18.1 points and 6.2 assists in earning Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year hon- ors. It was not an easy season, however. North Caro- lina State fired coach Mark Gottfried during the season, and the Wolfpack finished with a losing record.
That said, Smith had a pair of triple-doubles and displayed dazzling athletic abil- ity. He recorded an amaz-
ing 48-inch vertical leap in a workout with the Los Ange- les Lakers earlier this month. He did not come to Dallas for a workout, in part
becausethe Mavericks didn’t think Smith would fall to the ninth pick. In the past week, however,
the Mavericks sent a scout- ing group to Raleigh, N.C., where Smith had a work- out for any pro scouts who wanted to attend. He also had a FaceTime conversation with the Mavericks’ brass.
Smith said being picked ninth will only serve to give him a chip on his shoulder.
“I’m definitely motivated,” he said from the Barclays Center in New York, where the draft took place. “I just use it as fuel to the fire. I’ve been underrated my whole life, and that’s perfectly fine with me. I’m accustomed to it. I’m going to go out and be Dennis Smith, and nothing can stop that.”
Smith said Mavericks fans can expect a competitive, downhill-playing point guard who values making his teammates better over statistics. He also said he’s envisioned what it will be
like running the pick-androll with Nowitzki.
“It’s going to be great,” Smith said. “Dirk can teach me a lot of things. I’m looking forward to learning from him.”
The Mavericks had plenty of inside intelligence on Smith. Gottfried, a longtime friend of Nelson’s, was at the Mavericks’ pre-draft workouts this week and might join the staff at Orlando for the upcoming summer league.
What the Mavericks know for sure is they have the kind of point guard they haven’t had — maybe ever. “We got our guy,” Nelson said. “The big hole was at point guard. He fits in really well with our chemistry, where we’re going.
“We haven’t had, through the years, an over-the-rim presence like that (at the point), who can do special things both with the long ball and opening things up. We haven’t had this kind of athletic presence since I’ve been with the Mavericks.”
While playing time has to be earned in Carlisle’s system, it’s clear this is the point guard who will be given the chance to usher the fran
chise out of the rebuilding phase and back to playoff respectability. For the next couple of
years, he’ll get every opportunity to be the engine. “This is a huge day,” Carl
islesaid. “We’re thrilled, and when you see this guy get on
the court and start playing, you’re going to understand our enthusiasm even more.”