Despite the Mavs’ disappointing 23-53 mark through 76 games, it’s hard to consider Dennis Smith Jr.‘s rookie season anything less than a success, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. The 20-year-old has put forth 15.2 points and 5.0 assists per game, which both rank among the top five for first-year players.
More importantly, however, Smith Jr. has been healthy for the majority of the season. Considering the high-flying guard tore his left ACL back in 2015, it bodes well that he has made it through the bulk of an entire NBA campaign in relatively good shape. With the exception of a few instances of soreness, the guard’s knee has held up and he’s played in 86% of the team’s games so far.
“A lot of rookie point guards who have the responsibility of starting would be worn down mentally and really banged up physically,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s neither. He’s very strong and has worked very hard on his body and his mind is fresh. He wants to be one of those guys that’s really depended on by a franchise and he’s gained is a real knowledge of the amount of work that’s going to go into that.”
There’s more news out of Dallas this evening:
- While it seemed as though Nerlens Noel‘s exit from Dallas was a foregone conclusion a couple months ago, the fact that the injured big man has done so little over the course of the 2017/18 campaign may mean that there isn’t much of a market for him in free agency. Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas Morning News writes that he doesn’t believe the franchise views Noel as a building block anymore but that the club could use him as a placeholder.
- A woman fired by Arena Operating Co., the company that operates the American Airlines Center, is following up a January complaint alleging gender, sexual and racial issues by seeking information from Mark Cuban about a 2011 incident involving a noose hung in the Mavs’ stadium, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. It’s alleged that Cuban disposed of the noose at the time, but did not “make a big deal of it.”
- Under the leadership of new CEO Cynthia Marshall, the Mavs have hired a pair of executive leadership employees and officially launched an initial “100-Day Plan” to improve the culture of the disgraced organization. A team-issued press release states that the Mavs plan to position the organization as a standard bearer for inclusion and diversity.
NOEL NOEL NOEL…my friend you know f***** up right?!? This kid will never see that same kind of money and I guarantee he will do something stupid before free agency hits to put the icing on the cake.
Yes, the Mavs dodged a huge bullet. I think Noel will eventually be a good player but it will be years from now.
Noel smoking weed has zero impact on his ability to get a contract. They all smoke weed, and Noel is not a very good player.
Noel is a good player right now. Dallas just really screwed up the situation with him and treated him like ****. Expect him to sign in Houston or GS where he will thrive.
How did they screw up?? They offered him 70mil without him doing jack s***.