The Dallas Mavericks are reportedly trying to trade second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., a rather unexpected development given how highly Smith was thought of coming into this season.
As a matter of fact, when the Mavericks made a draft night trade to acquire Luka Doncic from the Atlanta Hawks this past summer, their vision at the time was that Doncic and Smith would become the modern day version of Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. That pair terrorized opposing backcourts during their days with the Detroit Pistons in the 1980s and early '90s.
I don't know what made Dallas think that was going to happen, because Doncic and Smith are absolutely nothing like Thomas and Dumars. For one thing, Dumars was a lockdown defender, something that neither Doncic nor Smith are currently known for. Doncic's game, for another example, is entirely different than either Thomas or Dumars.
While both Thomas and Dumars were traditional guards in terms of size, Doncic is 6'7″ and is more of a Gordon Hayward or Scottie Pippen type of player.
Regardless, it seems that Smith's time is up in Dallas after just a year-and-a-half with the team. Injuries have made life fairly difficult for Smith in his young NBA career, and his persistent knee issues obviously have the Mavericks worried to the point that they don't think he will ever develop into the type of player they expected when they drafted him ninth overall in 2017.
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