Nothing to Lose: Why Mavs Should Sign Dennis Smith Jr.
A lot has changed since Dennis Smith Jr. last donned a Dallas Mavericks uniform. Jason Kidd is coaching the team instead of Rick Carlisle, Nico Harrison is calling the shots as GM instead of Donnie Nelson, and Luka Doncic has morphed into one of the best players in the NBA after making three straight All-NBA First Team appearances.
As the Mavs made their run to the Western Conference Finals, there didn't seem to be a need for another guard at that time, as the trio of Doncic, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie played well together and took the team to the next level. However, Brunson signed with the New York Knicks in free agency, meaning the Mavs once again have a need for a secondary playmaker.
Although the Mavs made moves to improve their roster this summer by adding Christian Wood, JaVale McGee and 20-year-old draftee Jaden Hardy, none of those moves addressed the specific need Brunson's departure created. Perhaps current players on the roster, including Hardy, Frank Ntilikina and Josh Green, can develop into being consistent secondary playmakers off the bench at some point ... but they they haven’t made it to that point yet.
With training camp one month away, the Mavs should consider bringing Dennis Smith Jr. back to Dallas ... not only because he possess the tools to potentially help the Mavs with their current biggest roster need, but because he still has great relationships with Doncic and Dorian Finney-Smith as well. It also helps that Smith Jr. has shown a desire to reunite with the Mavs on multiple occasions over the last few years.
For essentially the first time since Smith Jr. was traded from the Mavs to the Knicks in 2019, he appears to finally be fully healthy again. In his brief stint with the Portland Trail Blazers last season, he displayed how much he's grown as both a playmaker and a defender.
On Friday night, Smith Jr. gave prospective NBA teams a glimpse of what he could provide this season, as he won the Miami Pro League championship alongside Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo. In the highlights from that game, you can see Smith Jr. taking it to Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton, who has also been linked to the Mavs in free agency rumors this summer.
As it stands right now, the Mavs have 14 main roster spots filled, as well as one two-way slot (Tyler Dorsey) and four training camp deals for McKinley Wright IV, Mouhamadou Gueye, Tyler Hall and Marcus Bingham Jr. That totals 19 players, and the Mavs can bring up to 20 to training camp.
With one spot remaining, and a need for a playmaker off the bench, Dallas should extend that final training camp invitation to Smith Jr., given that it's such a low-risk, potentially high-reward move. As we've found out many times before, though, just because we believe the Mavs should do something doesn't mean they will.
You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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