After his impressive showing in the Summer League, Dennis Smith Jr. has turned a lot of heads and made many believe that he can turn out to be the steal of the draft. Despite being projected to be a top six pick, he was selected ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks, who felt very fortunate to have him fall on their laps.
The former NC State star now has a lot of fans who are looking forward to his performance this coming season, including one of the best point guards to ever play in the league, Chauncey Billups. He recently talked about what he sees in Smith, and gave him a lot of praise for being an NBA-ready player. He even added, via Adam Grosbard of Sports Day, that he thinks he has the potential to win the Rookie of the Year award.
“I love him. I love him. I think he's got the potential to be the rookie of the year in the league this year. I think he's the most polished out of all the point guards that were out there this year. I think he's the most polished, pro-ready in my opinion and there's some really good ones that came into the draft this year and I like almost all of them.”
Billups then compared Smith to Baron Davis a former NBA point guard who can also fly.
“He reminds me a little bit of Baron Davis when BD was coming into the league with his explosiveness. His handles are really good. He can also shoot it. Dennis has really quick hands defensively.”
The current ESPN analyst definitely knows what it takes to become a successful floor general in the NBA, as he won a championship, as well as earned a Finals MVP honor during his stellar career. His comments about Smith attest how good the rookie is, that even legends like Billups already think highly of him.
If he can live up to expectations and perform like the way he did during the Summer League to eventually bag top rookie honors, he might just make Mr. Big Shot look even more of a genius.
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