JANUARY 16: Real Madrid has officially announced its rest-of-season deal with Smith.
JANUARY 15: Free agent point guard Dennis Smith Jr. has traveled to Spain and is expected to sign with Real Madrid, pending a physical, according to reports from Nacho Duque of Marca and Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.
Ricardo Gonzalez of AS.com initially reported on Tuesday that the possibility of Smith joining Real Madrid was gaining steam. The EuroLeague club had previously been linked to another veteran NBA guard, Devonte’ Graham, but Smith reportedly became the team’s priority in recent days.
Smith reposted several stories on his Instagram about his impending deal with Real Madrid, including a photo from Madrid’s airport.
The ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Smith has appeared in a total of 326 regular season games for the Mavericks, Knicks, Pistons, Trail Blazers, Hornets, and Nets over the course of seven NBA seasons. He made 56 appearances last season for Brooklyn, averaging 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 18.9 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .435/.294/.741.
Smith isn’t much of a scorer or shooter, with career marks of 40.7% from the floor and 29.8% on three-pointers. However, he’s a solid ball-handler and distributor and a strong point-of-attack defender.
Smith signed a G League contract last month, expecting to be claimed by the Austin Spurs. However, the Bucks’ affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, claimed him instead. It’s unclear if the 27-year-old ever reported to the Herd — either way, he didn’t play in a game for the team.
Assuming he officially completes his deal in the coming days, Smith will be joining a Real Madrid team that features a handful of former NBA players, including Facundo Campazzo, Mario Hezonja, Dzanan Musa, Serge Ibaka, and Usman Garuba.
The Bucks could use him. Surprised he didn’t want to play a few games with the Herd to get evaluated.
Sad he never turned into a solid player, one of the nastiest high school tapes I’ve ever seen.
There’s a few teams that could consider him b/c of his defense
That team he’s joining is stacked though, wow lol…
Atlanta could use him
Not sure where Ancelotti will play him. I could see him as a third attacking option behind Mbappé and Vinicius Jr. when Rodrygo isn’t available – if he can beat out Endrick, that is. Not sure he’s good enough to create in the midfield and take over Modrić’s current backup role.
Well, good luck to him. UEFA Champions League football ain’t nothing to sneeze at. The NBA flopping should translate nicely, though.