Dennis Smith Jr. met with Knicks team president Phil Jackson and according to the prospect’s trainer, he would love a chance to play with Carmelo Anthony, as Adam Zagoria of Fan Rag relays.
“Those guys are proven, USA [Basketball], Olympic players, I think he would mesh well. And Junior wants to learn now, too,” Smith’s longtime trainer Shawn Farmer. “He doesn’t just want to go in and think he knows everything. He wants to get up under those guys’ wing and learn from those guys.”
Farmer added playing in the triangle wouldn’t upset Smith. “He saw it was successful prior years with Kobe [Bryant] and all of those kids [on the Lakers]. So Junior is one of the smartest basketball players I’ve ever been around and I’ve played professionally in Europe. I’ve been around a lot of pros and not being biased, he’s such a smart kid,” Farmer said.
The NC State product was expected to work out for New York on Wednesday, but that never took place, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports (ESPN Now link). The point guard also met with the Magic on Wednesday, so it’s possible that he received a draft promise from Orlando and decided not to go through drills with the Knicks, though that is merely my speculation.
Here’s more from the Big Apple:
- New York is considering Donovan Mitchell as an option for the No. 8 overall selection, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Berman adds that the Louisville product is expected to work out for the team this week.
- Nigel Williams-Goss is on the Knicks‘ radar, Begley adds in a separate ESPN Now link. The Gonzaga star is expected to come off the board in the second round and New York owns the No. 44 and No. 58 selections.
- The Knicks have worked out Jaron Blossomgame, Ike Iroegbu, and Erik McCree, according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).