How the “Next Derrick Rose” Became an NBA Bust

Andy Hoops

Dennis Smith Jr. was considered one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, but a series of circumstances found him in danger of falling out of the NBA way too soon. Let's take a look at what went wrong. contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music:  Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Movement Proposition by Kevin MacLeod Pure Attitude by Kevin MacLeod Sardana by Kevin MacLeod Bittersweet by Kevin MacLeod Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod Eternity by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:01In the summer of 2017, in a pre-draft workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, a young man by the

00:07name of Dennis Smith Jr. recorded an absurd 48-inch vertical.

00:12That was tied for the highest ever vertical recorded in the history of the NBA, but this wasn't a total

00:17surprise.

00:22You see, Smith was once a top 10 prospect in the nation.

00:26Some scouts ranked him even as high as top 5, with a strong claim to be the number 1 point

00:30guard of the 2016 high school recruiting class.

00:33With a playstyle reminiscent of the league's most athletic point guards, from his strength to his body control to his

00:39elite transition game, dude was unstoppable going downhill.

00:43He was destined to be the next Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook.

00:47Point guards who excelled above the rim.

00:55This, however, was a far cry from what he actually became.

00:59Not only did DSJ's career falter right from the start, but even with monumental efforts to change his playstyle, to

01:05find a new niche, and the effort he put in to reinvent his game, it still wasn't enough.

01:11The circumstances of the teams he was on really hindered his progress as a point guard, which caused him to

01:16be on 6 different teams in 7 years before falling out of the league.

01:20Very quickly, Smith became known as one of the biggest disappointments of the sport, and is more known for this

01:26hilarious tweet than his actual game.

01:29But why was he so bad, to the point where the collapse of his career created a massive red flag

01:35for players of his archetype?

01:36In this video, let's take a detailed dive into everything that went wrong with Dennis Smith Jr.

01:46Let's start with something that most folks have already forgotten.

01:49Prior to his arrival to the NBA, Smith suffered a torn ACL in his senior year of high school.

01:55But this wasn't as bad as initially thought, because during surgery, his doctor discovered he had two ACLs in the

02:01same knee.

02:01And he just tore one of them.

02:11Normally, a torn ACL would take over a year.

02:14For a player who relied on his elite first step and lateral quickness as much as he did, this was

02:19a huge relief.

02:20Because it could have really derailed his career before it even started.

02:23Yet when he came back, he was still as explosive as ever when he made it to college.

02:30College is usually the first obstacle to knowing how your game could translate to a harder competition.

02:35And for Smith, it translated well.

02:38He showed the capability to lead his team in scoring while being the primary playmaker too.

02:42His so-called generational athleticism and speed at the point guard position was just as apparent as ever.

02:48Even against college athletes, he still stood above the rest in terms of pure explosion.

02:52Smith led all ACC rookies in scoring and led the entire conference in assists.

02:58The thing is, there was a problem.

03:00NC State had a tumultuous year.

03:02It was riddled with roster problems and even their coach got fired.

03:06So they didn't perform well as a team.

03:08His lone college season also exposed some flaws.

03:12Smith did not have a great motor, defensively.

03:15Nor did he have any intangibles.

03:17But one could attribute this to a heavy load offensively, so this wasn't a huge concern.

03:23At least, not yet.

03:25Without a doubt, the first major concern arose during the draft combine, a month before the 2017 NBA draft.

03:32Despite being listed at 6'3 at NC State, he measured in at just barely 6' tall without shoes, with

03:38just a 6'3 wingspan.

03:40For comparison, both D. Rose and Russell Westbrook have wingspans of about 6'8, so Smith was more compact and

03:47shorter than expected.

03:49Of course, this wasn't the end of the world, but the perception of him went from a big strong point

03:54guard to one that was quite undersized.

03:57This was an issue because you can probably count on a single hand the number of short athletic point guards

04:02who ended up dominating in the NBA,

04:04because there haven't been that many.

04:06He was nowhere close to the size of the players he got compared to.

04:10Still, his draft stock didn't fall that much.

04:13Smith held a private workout with a few teams, including the Sixers, Lakers, and Magic,

04:17who were equipped with the first, second, and sixth picks of the draft.

04:21His workout with the Lakers was the most prominent, the one where he apparently recorded a 48-inch vertical.

04:27This was the team he wanted to be drafted to, and they were looking for a point guard.

04:31Now, it was a long shot for them to use their number two pick on him, but it wasn't totally

04:36impossible.

04:37If he had a tremendous workout while Lonzo Ball had a bad one, maybe it could have happened.

04:43Turns out, none of the teams he worked out for wanted him, so he fell to the ninth pick to

04:48the Dallas Mavericks.

04:50Hilariously, the Mavs didn't even hold a workout with him because they thought he'd be off the board before then.

04:55So, when he fell into their laps, Mark Cuban and the entire Mavs organization was ecstatic.

05:00Cuban even claimed, quote,

05:12It's very rare when the owner is also in complete agreement with the front office, but that was the case

05:18with DSJ.

05:19Even Rick Carlisle and Donnie Nelson emphasized that he was the player they wanted all along.

05:23And it's a miracle they got him.

05:25But when Mark Cuban labeled him as a basketball player who happens to be athletic, the result was more so

05:31the opposite.

05:32He was an athlete who happened to be a basketball player.

05:35Because right out the gates, their idea of who he was as a player did not meet his actual skills.

05:40You see, DSJ suffered a common problem amongst hyper-athletic point guards.

05:45His passing looked a lot better in high school and college because of how explosive he was.

05:50He was able to leverage his speed into good passes, so it's a lot easier to hit your teammates when

05:55you're blowing by everybody with your first step.

05:57But in the NBA, he can't rely on this all the time.

06:01And when he's not outspeeding his defender, his court vision was quite mediocre in a half-court setting.

06:06When he's not pushing downhill in transition or doing a straight-line drive to the rim, he struggles to make

06:11the right play.

06:13So, while they inserted him into the starting point guard role immediately, and he did show some flashes of potential,

06:18it was a very up-and-down rookie year.

06:21Here's the best way to put it.

06:22His athleticism was far ahead of his point guard skills.

06:26You add on his horrendous shooting, which is also a common problem among players of his archetype, but it was

06:31actually even worse than advertised.

06:33DSJ's shooting splits in his rookie season were generationally bad.

06:37Like, it made him incapable of hitting a jumper from anywhere on the court, not just the three-point line.

06:43Like, he was sub-30% from almost every spot outside the paint.

06:47To be fair, it's not like Prime Rose or Westbrook were phenomenal shooters either.

06:52But even they were substantially better than this.

07:03When you combine his poor court vision with his bad shooting and being very undersized, this is a disastrous combination

07:09for a man who was drafted by the Mavs with the intention to be the point guard of their future.

07:14Nonetheless, the fate of him and the entire organization would forever change a year later.

07:23DSJ's rookie season was not terrible, but not good enough to make the Mavs believe he could be that guy.

07:28In fact, they collectively came to the conclusion that his weaknesses were very hard to solve, and it might take

07:34years for him to make progress.

07:36This shouldn't be a huge deal since the team was starting to rebuild anyway in the post-Dirk Nowitzki era.

07:41But when the 2018 draft approached, they had an opportunity to get a guaranteed generational talent, who can rapidly speed

07:48up their rebuilding process.

07:51The Atlanta Hawks select Luka Doncic from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

07:57Luka will be on his way to Dallas.

07:59The Mavs entered the 2018 draft with originally the fifth pick, yet they were able to trade up to get

08:05Luka Doncic.

08:07There's normally two ways teams decide who to draft.

08:10You either draft for fit, or draft the best player available.

08:13The Mavs weren't going to make the same mistake the Kings made.

08:16They're not drafting for fit.

08:17They're getting the best player available, and that was Luka.

08:20However, this created a contentious backcourt duo.

08:24Because the arrival and immediate success of Luka proved to the Mavs that he should be the one leading and

08:28controlling the entire offense.

08:30Whereas Dennis Smith Jr. was still starting in the backcourt with Luka, but he needed to adapt to a new

08:36role now.

08:37He needed to learn how to play off of him.

08:39He needed to learn how to shoot better to space the floor.

08:42And he needed to learn the skills of an off-ball shooting guard, which he was never drafted for this

08:46purpose to begin with.

08:48Now, I'm not saying it's the fault of the Mavs for reducing his role so quickly, but to expect DSJ

08:54to completely change his playstyle to something he's never done before, it's unreasonable to expect him to flourish like this.

09:01In reality, drafting Luka gave the Mavs an excuse to get rid of DSJ.

09:06Because it was clear he was not fit for this new sidekick off-ball shooting guard role.

09:11Definitely not with his size and lack of jumper.

09:14Dennis Smith Jr. Now, we've heard the rumblings.

09:17The Mavericks are ready to move on from a lottery pick like Dennis Smith Jr.

09:22So, his sophomore year was filled with turbulence, which culminated in a trade request by January of 2019.

09:29Contrary to popular belief, there was no beef between him and Luka or the Mavs front office.

09:34In fact, years later, he had nothing to say but praise towards Luka, as even he knew Luka was on

09:39his way to becoming the best player in the world.

09:42He had a talk with Donnie Nelson and was open to being traded to a situation where he has a

09:46bigger opportunity.

09:48Because, obviously, forcing him into this new role wasn't good for his career, and it wasn't good for the Mavs

09:53to win like this.

09:54Thus, it was a mutual separation.

09:58On January 31st, 2019, a few weeks before the deadline, the Mavs pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal.

10:04It was a massive trade involving seven players and multiple first-round picks, with the focus of this trade being

10:10on Smith and Knicks all-star Kristaps Porzingis.

10:14Smith hoped that by joining the Knicks, a team that didn't yet have a guaranteed starting point guard, perhaps he

10:20could work his way into the lineup and prove he deserves to be one.

10:24Funny enough, he joined the same team that passed on him in the draft in favor of Frank Nielakina, who

10:29also turned out to be a bust.

10:31Then, things would change when the Knicks also signed another point guard in 2019 free agency, Alfred Payton.

10:39Now, they had three young point guards competing for the starting spot, so this was basically a make-or-break

10:44season for Smith.

10:46He needed to perform because everyone was observing, not just the Knicks, but the entire league,

10:51because this could very well be his final chance to prove his worth.

10:54And he was playing for a new extension on his rookie contract, too, so his entire career was at stake.

11:01Sadly, this turned out to be the worst possible year for him in every way possible.

11:07It started with a myriad of nagging injuries, a strained oblique, a wrist injury, and even a sudden death of

11:13his stepmother who raised him.

11:14All of this took a tragic toll on his well-being, and he spent a lot of time away from

11:19the team.

11:19It was a heartbreaking moment that happened at the worst possible time.

11:23And when he returned and tried to get back into the groove of things,

11:30the pandemic happened.

11:32And for the Knicks, that meant the season was over, because they didn't even qualify for the bubble.

11:37With an abrupt ending to Smith's season, the 2019-20 Knicks saw Alfred Payton become the team's starting point guard,

11:44and for a good reason, too.

11:46While his playstyle was nowhere near as flashy, nor was he the same caliber athlete,

11:50his court vision was miles beyond both him and Frank Nielakina.

11:54Payton was a natural point guard, a more controlled, stable offensive player similar to somebody like Mike Conley.

12:00His underrated and gifted passing skills were more valuable to the team than anything that Smith provided,

12:05which was, honestly, not much at all.

12:08His struggles were not swept under the rug, either.

12:12Dennis Smith, way off.

12:16This was the guy who was supposed to be the centerpiece of what they got back for trading away Porzingis,

12:20yet he was getting outplayed by every point guard on the roster.

12:24There were a couple times where Knicks fans would boo him for being such a huge detriment to the team,

12:29including this infamous moment on October 26.

12:42When Smith was 0-for-3 from the field and the crowd was chanting for Frank Nielakina to come into

12:47the game instead.

12:48You even had former Knicks players taking shots at Smith.

12:52Trey Burke was included with Porzingis in the trade to Dallas,

12:55and he questioned why the Knicks even traded for Smith,

12:58to which he said,

12:59I mean, his question was reasonable.

13:09Why would the Knicks trade for a guy like Smith and give him less playing time than he had in

13:14Dallas?

13:15Well, the answer became obvious when he actually did play,

13:18because he was not good,

13:19and the fans were pissed off every time he touched the ball.

13:23Essentially, he bounced from a situation in Dallas where they drafted his replacement

13:26to a situation in New York where he had a chance to fight for minutes against his replacements.

13:32They went hard against each other in practice for the chance to claim the starting spot,

13:37but, you know, with all the untimely injuries and going through all those personal issues,

13:41this was a massive missed opportunity.

13:43All of this culminated in the least productive season ever,

13:47and instead of offering him an extension,

13:49the Knicks had no time to wait and traded him away shortly after.

13:53Ironically, he was traded for the guy who he was initially projected to become,

13:58Derrick Rose.

13:59Somehow, Rose in his advanced age with years upon years of rehab and injuries

14:04still provided more for the Knicks than Smith ever did.

14:07This time, however, with a fresh new start in Detroit,

14:11Smith decided to pivot his game in a different direction.

14:14He yearned to be the leading point guard on a competitive team,

14:17but now he needed to do whatever it took to just stay in the league,

14:20because his NBA career was dangling by a thread.

14:23His arrival to Detroit marked yet another team that was looking for a solution at point guard,

14:28so theoretically, this was also another major opportunity.

14:32Yet, this wasn't his focus anymore.

14:34Smith worked tremendously on his defense and his three-point shot,

14:38trying to fill the niche of a gritty, energetic, strong perimeter defender.

14:45Who can run the offense occasionally, but not all the time.

14:49Kind of similar to what Deuce McBride eventually became for the Knicks.

14:53This, unfortunately, was an uphill battle for a guy as small and stocky as Smith was,

14:58but his speed and athletic prowess were both God-given gifts

15:01that he wanted to capitalize on in other ways.

15:04These are the physical tools that can't be taught or replicated,

15:07so he had the right idea to pivot towards this new role.

15:10In his brief time in Detroit, he wasn't bad.

15:13In 20 games, he recorded at least 2 or more steals in 8 of them in very limited minutes.

15:18Yet, this still wasn't enough to get him a new contract with the team.

15:22The 2020-21 season would be his final year on this rookie contract,

15:26and getting traded several times and let go by the Pistons

15:29clearly implies that nobody wants to extend him to a long-term deal.

15:33Nobody, no team in the entire league believed he was worth investing in anymore.

15:37Even though he was only 23 years old at the time.

15:41So, the only option for DSJ was a minimum contract.

15:45Smith signed a measly one-year $1.7 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers,

15:49a chance in which he described as being, quote,

15:52on God's timing.

15:54The things he was working on back in Detroit also translated quite well onto the Blazers,

15:59where he once again became known more as a disruptive on-ball defender

16:03rather than his point guard skills.

16:05Unfortunately, he couldn't even last the whole season before being waived,

16:09which partly had to do with his untimely injuries yet again.

16:12That's another major obstacle.

16:14Smith was very injury-prone.

16:16He had a plethora of random injuries pop up over the years,

16:19where even when he looked decent on the court,

16:21his teams preferred to use their roster spot on somebody else who was healthy.

16:25At this point, every chance he was given led to a dead end,

16:28with everyone thinking he's disposable.

16:30It got especially bad after he got released by the Blazers,

16:34because around the summer of 2022,

16:36he seriously considered retiring from basketball.

16:39He flat-out told his agent,

16:40I'm not going overseas.

16:42If it don't work out, I'm just going to the NFL,

16:44and I was dead-ass serious.

16:46I put on hella weight.

16:48This was a crazy claim.

16:50But to be fair, he did play high school football,

16:53and he's mentioned before that this could be an alternate path,

16:56although very unlikely.

16:58But then, the Hornets came swooping in

17:00and signed him a few weeks before training camp started.

17:03Unlike most other teams, the Hornets noticed his improvement,

17:06with Charlotte journalist James Clowright even claiming

17:08he's a stellar athlete and a high-effort defender with untapped potential.

17:13I'm not sure about the untapped part,

17:15but yeah, he did become a high-effort defender.

17:18On a team that needed a backup for LaMelo Ball,

17:20why not throw a shot in the dark and give him a chance?

17:23The result?

17:24The 2022-23 season with Charlotte

17:27was the most games he's played in since his rookie year,

17:29and he got a ton of minutes because of LaMelo's injuries.

17:33Smith's new role as a secondary ball handler

17:35and defensive pest came to fruition,

17:37and he found moderate success in this role.

17:40The thing is, even with some positivity surrounding his career,

17:44his issues when it came to scoring were still blatant.

17:47Smith's ability to finish at the basket was very good.

17:50A career 61% within the restricted area is incredible for a player of his size.

17:56Yet his scoring bag outside the paint was non-existent.

17:59And this never got better since his rookie year.

18:03So even if he fulfilled this new niche as a defensive pest at a good level,

18:07his jump shot was so horrific that it was hard to keep him on the court.

18:11The Brooklyn Nets would be his final stop,

18:14his last minimum contract before falling out of the league at the age of 26.

18:18It's really sad.

18:20After his rookie deal expired,

18:22he only got one-year minimum deals until the end of his NBA career.

18:25For a highly-touted prospect like him to not get a single long-term contract,

18:30that's shocking.

18:31Dennis Smith Jr. concluded his time in the league as a massive disappointment.

18:36In retrospect, there wasn't much he could do to change anything.

18:40None of his teams had the patience to wait for him to develop.

18:43But he also got enough minutes to develop, and still couldn't do it.

18:47The truth is, he just didn't have the skills to thrive in the NBA.

18:51He didn't have the passing skills to take full control of the offense,

18:54nor the shooting skills to play off of another guard.

18:57That's why the backcourt duo of him and Luka failed.

18:59Coming in as an athletic marvel of a human brought upon unrealistic expectations.

19:05The comparisons to the greatest athletes of all time was perhaps a bit too daunting.

19:10Him being a bust influenced the reputation of players who fit this archetype.

19:15Hyper-athletic small guards with no jumper have been the biggest question mark in modern NBA drafts.

19:20And the next time a prospect like him comes along,

19:22maybe they should never be valued so high to begin with.

19:27Anyway, that's all, folks.

19:28Thank you all so much for watching.

19:30I hope you all enjoyed the video.

19:32And of course, I'll see you next time.

19:34Peace.

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