Dallas Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr. will be returning to action early this week.
According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle informed the team during Sunday's practice in Milwaukee that Dennis Smith Jr. plans to return for Tuesday's home game against the LA Clippers.
Filed to ESPN — Sources: Coach Rick Carlisle informed the Mavericks at today’s practice in Milwaukee that Dennis Smith Jr. plans to return to the team for Tuesday’s home game against the Clippers.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 20, 2019
The Mavs are coming off a defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night, during which it was clear that the second-year ball handler's presence was sorely missed.
Indy put the dogs on Luka Doncic from the opening tip, cooling down the spectacular rookie campaign he has pieced together in just 44 games. Pacers coach Nate McMillan assigned his most competent defensive guard Victor Oladipo to lock up Doncic, which wasn't a genius idea. That was of course, until the events that followed.
Needless to say, the Mavs' golden child finally got exposed.
Luka Doncic just got ejected for the first time in his career #Mavs #MFFL pic.twitter.com/ttTHN5X5zW
— Mavs Nation (@MavsNationCP) January 20, 2019
The 19-year-old Doncic received his first ejection in his NBA career, but he also ended the game with an unsettling eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Smith Jr., on the other hand, has been a name more involved in trade talks in recent weeks. While a sore back and illness has been the cause of his absence, tanking teams such as the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic have shown interest in the young athletic guard. He is averaging 12.6 points on 44.3 percent shooting this season, quite a significant drop from the 15.2 points that he posted last year.
Though he will play for the first time since January 7, chances of him remaining in Dallas beyond the month of February are looking bleaker.
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