One play on Sunday night showed how much fun it could be to watch Dennis Smith Jr. in a Mavericks jersey.
The second-year guard went up for a layup, collided with Toronto’s Serge Ibaka in mid-air, completed the basket, raised his arms and flexed toward Ibaka, who was knocked down on the play. While the officials didn’t share the same reaction as Smith or the Mavs fans in attendance (he was whistled for a technical foul for the celebration), it was a bright spot for him during a very tumultuous week.
At the beginning of the Mavs’ three-game home stand, Smith returned to the team after a six-game absence amid trade speculation. Fittingly, the Mavs’ final home game before a three-game road trip was against Toronto and Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard was involved in a similar situation last year in San Antonio before being traded to Toronto during the offseason. While it’s unclear how Smith’s recent sabbatical will impact his long-term future in Dallas, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle reiterated Smith’s importance after Monday’s practice.
“He’s going hard,” Carlisle said. “I like the way he’s pushing the ball. His paint attacks have been very aggressive and more frequent -- certainly in the last couple of games. We need that from him.”
Since returning to the lineup, Smith is averaging 16.3 points per game. He scored 13 points in the Mavs’ 123-120 loss to Toronto and Leonard, who scored 33 in the win.
Leonard, the 2014 NBA Finals MVP, was set to be the cornerstone of San Antonio’s franchise after he signed a five-year, $95 million deal in 2015. But at some point last season, things broke down between the Spurs and their star forward as he opted to recover from injury with his private medical team.
He only played in nine games in 2017-18 with what the team termed as a “return from injury management,” according to the San Antonio Express-News. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hinted there was more to it than that.
“I don’t know when he and his group are going to feel like they are ready to go,” Popovich said last April, according to the newspaper. “If I knew, he would be here.”
Smith, the ninth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, went through a somewhat similar experience this month.
Smith’s six-game absence was split in two parts -- three games with a back injury and another three for what was officially listed as an “illness” apparently caused by trade winds. During that time, the Mavs were increasing their efforts to move Smith, a team source confirmed to The News.
But when he returned to the lineup last week, Carlisle and others around the team said they were happy Smith was back in the fold. Against Toronto, Smith made a couple of key plays, including a 3-pointer in the third quarter that pushed the Mavs ahead for the first time since the game’s opening minutes.
After the loss, Smith said it was exciting to get his groove back.
“You don’t really realize how much you miss it until you’re actually missing it,” he said.
Some of the speculation around Smith centers around Mavs rookie guard Luka Doncic. Doncic’s prolific year continued on Sunday when he became the first teenager to have multiple triple-doubles during the same NBA season.
Smith scoffed at any speculation about Doncic being the source of any discontentment.
“I’ve never thought it was an issue from the jump,” Smith said of playing with Doncic, who scored a season-high 35 against Toronto. “We’ve been good since the beginning of the year.”
On Sunday, Leonard continued to flourish with his new team while Smith provided key plays that helped the Mavs come close to knocking off one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
With the Feb. 7 trade deadline rapidly approaching, it’s unclear if Smith will share the same fate as Leonard. But for now, he’s in Dallas.
“He can do a lot of things,” Doncic said. “He can help us.”
