Following a 111-104 Cleveland Cavaliers victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, superstar forward LeBron James offered a lot of praise for Mavs rookie guard Dennis Smith Jr. However, in a video posted via NBA TV, James couldn't help but take a shot at the New York Knicks for not selecting Smith Jr.
“The Knicks passed on a really good one, and Dallas got the diamond in the rough. He should be a Knick,” James said. “That’s going to make some headlines, but he should be a Knick. Dallas is definitely… I know they’re excited that he didn’t go there.”
Smith Jr. appears to be a promising rookie guard so far, as he currently averages 14.8 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 11 games this season for a reeling 2-11 Mavs team.
Defensive-minded rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina, who the Knicks selected eighth overall in the 2017 NBA Draft one spot ahead of Smith Jr., has played in 10 games so far this season and is currently averaging 4.4 points, five assists and 1.6 steals per game.
On Sunday, Knicks rising star forward Kristaps Porzingis came to the defense of Ntilikina and spoke to the media about James' comments, according to a tweet from Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
#Knicks Krisptaps Porzingis on #Cavs LeBron James comment that Knix should've taken DSmith over FNtilikina: "I don't know why he made those comments. All I can say is we love Frank…I would not change Frank for anybody. Simple."
— Fred Kerber (@FredKerber) November 12, 2017
Porzingis has his teammate Ntilikina's back through thick and thin, as the Knicks will host James and the Cavs on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Late last month, New York routed Cleveland 114-95 at Quicken Loans Arena in the first meeting of the season between both squads.
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