Dennis Smith Jr.'s  inaugural year in the pros is going to be watched closely by Dallas Mavericks fans, and that includes Bobby Karalla, of Mavs.com, who wonders what the former NC State standout needs to do to top several of Dallas' all-time rookie statistical categories at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season.

“Let’s take a look at some of the most successful Mavericks rookie campaigns in a few areas to get a better idea of the players who have come before Smith so we can place his upcoming season in historical context. (Note: To qualify for the following lists, a player had to play at least 1,000 minutes in his rookie season, or the equivalent of 1,000 minutes during lockout-shortened seasons.) All stats come courtesy of Basketball-Reference.”

Karalla chose four categories to highlight: points per game, assists per game, three-pointers made, and free throw attempts per game. As deadly of a scorer who's capable of getting buckets from almost anywhere on floor Smith is, Karalla doubts the former Wolfpack's chances of topping Jay Vincent's 21.4 points per game average back in the 1981-82 season.

That said, it's not entirely far-fetched to say that Smith could overtake Rolando Blackman's 13.3 points per game back in the same season in which Vincent set the rookie mark.

“It’s going to be tough for Smith to score close to or above 20 points per game as a rookie point guard, especially because he’s playing on a team with so many other veterans who receive plenty of play-calls, namely Nowitzki and Harrison Barnes.”

In the assists department, Karalla isn't also keeping his hopes high on Smith breaking Jason Kidd's team rookie record of 7.7 dimes per contest. He's more open to the idea of Smith surpassing Yogi Ferrell's 4.3 assists per game last season, however.

“Smith will almost certainly break into the top-five in this category, especially if he ends up as the starter. Will he surpass Kidd’s mark of 7.7? That might be tough to do. But could he challenge Ferrell for second place? Maybe.”

There are huge expectations riding on the shoulders of Smith. With Dallas coming off one of the franchise's worst seasons in recent memory — finishing with its first losing record since 2000 with a 33-49 slate — and nearing the end of the Dirk Nowitzki era, the team is in need of a transitional star, one who could be the foundation of the Mavericks' future, as soon as possible. The Mavericks are hoping Smith would develop into one, beginning in his rookie season.

Smith, who was selected ninth overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Mavs, averaged 18.1 points and 6.2 assists per game in his lone season in college. He also shot 25.9 percent from deep and took 6.3 attempts from the charity stripe per contest in 2016-17 for NC State.