The Dallas Mavericks are trying to trade second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr., but they aren't making much progress. One of the reasons is because rival NBA teams are reluctant to trade for Smith because of other floor generals who will be hitting the free-agent market this summer, according to Sean Deveney of Sporting News.
This definitely makes sense, as Smith is not that highly coveted to begin with. After all, he is essentially an undersized combo guard who is poor defensively and has had a lot of injury issues since high school, most notably pertaining to his knees.
It stands to reason, then, that teams may be more interested in a better scorer like D'Angelo Russell or a healthier, playoff-proven guy like Terry Rozier in restricted free agency this offseason.
Of course, if a contender swoops in and decides that it wants to add Smith to its rotation for the stretch run, then all bets are off. The Philadelphia 76ers, for example, are a team in desperate need of bench scoring, and Smith could fill that role for them.
But as for squads like the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns who are simply looking for a franchise point guard moving forward? Smith might not be their cup of tea.
You also have to keep in mind that there may be other point guards who also become available between now and next month's trading deadline, further drying up the current market for Smith.
It seems like the Mavs may either have to end up holding on to Smith or take less than what they expected in return in a trade.
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