The Summer League was originally conceived to be a scrimmage featuring this year’s draft picks (since we’re itching to see them strut their wares) and the crop of NBA hopefuls that either didn’t get picked or are slumming around year after year for an opportunity in the form of a 10-day or two-way deal.

Rarely do we see an incoming second-year player show up on the next Summer League after an exceptionally good rookie campaign to the point that they made the NBA All-Rookie team – like dennis smith jr, of the Dallas Mavericks. After all, nearly all of his fellow All-Rookie team peers are nowhere in sight except for the Phoenix Suns’ Josh Jackson who’s around mostly as a way to develop some chemistry with DeAndre Ayton, the 2018 first overall pick.

That’s probably the reason too for Smith’s inclusion — the Mavericks were most likely hoping that he can start playing right away with Luka Doncic. Unfortunately, his buyout took a lot longer than expected, rendering the presence of “DSJ” moot. As such, the team will be shutting down the 6-foot-3 slam dunk artist for the rest of the tournament.

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Smith concludes his Summer League stint as the team’s third-leading scorer with just 12 points, a pair of rebounds, six assists, and a whopping three steals — though his shooting is still a concern, connecting on only 38 percent of his attempts.

The two-game target appears to fit the same plan for Doncic whom the Mavericks look to limit given his busy schedule in the Euroleague, one of which ended shortly before the draft and prevented the Slovenian phenom from attending workouts.