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Entering last June’s draft, Dennis Smith Jr., was one of the highly-touted prospects and was even projected to be a top five pick. Although he fell to number 10 overall, the Dallas Mavericks are very high on him, as they wanted a young point guard, and did not expect him to be available when they were on the clock.
The former NC State star has a lot of expectations on his young shoulders, especially after his impressive play during the Summer League. The good news for him is he has veteran teammates who can guide him as he starts his professional career. One of them is Devin Harris, who talked about expecting Smith to make the necessary adjustments after his first scrimmage, via Eddie Sefko of Sports Day, and that he believes he’ll be ready once the regular season starts.
“He's got a lot on his plate,” Harris said. “First day, he handled it well. He's going to be doing some things he's not accustomed to doing. It's going to be an adjustment, but I think he'll respond well. He's a gamer.
“I can tell you by the first preseason game, he'll look a lot different. He has raw talent. He'll get ready very quickly.”
It can be recalled that during the early days of the offseason, the Mavs made it known that they were eyeing some free agent playmakers to bolster their lineup, but everything changed when they selected Smith, as they now see him as their point guard of the future. He is a very talented player who even drew comparisons to some of the league's biggest stars, like Russell Westbrook and John Wall.
Should Devin Harris' words hold true, Dennis Smith Jr. will be geared to have a strong rookie season, and could even emerge as the Rookie of the Year. It all starts with how he adjusts during training camp though, as it could dictate how much success he'll have in his first year as a pro.
