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2 weeks Ago By Sameer Kumar
The Dallas Mavericks found their new face of the franchise in 2018, as they acquired the draft rights to Luka Dončić in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks on the night of the draft. The Mavs were planning on making Dennis Smith Jr. a franchise cornerstone after he averaged 15.
2 points and 5.2 assists in his first season in the league, finishing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. However, things changed when the Slovenian superstar was brought in, especially since they both play point guard.
“They threatened to trade me. Like, I got threatened, ‘Yeah, we haven’t mentioned about trading you yet’. I was like, ‘Where’s that coming from?’ That was in the summer league,” Smith said on the Run Your Race podcast .
The Mavs had the most undrafted players in league history, leaving Smith confused about the direction of the franchise. Smith wound up getting traded to the New York Knicks alongside DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, and two first-round draft picks in a deal that landed Dallas with Kristaps Porziņģis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke.
Smith finished off his first season with the Knicks strong, but he was never the same player after that. The high-flying and defensive-minded guard last played for the Brooklyn Nets during the 2024 season. Though they certainly could've handled the situation better, you can't argue with the Mavs' decision to choose Dončić as their cornerstone, especially when he has now led the team to their first NBA Finals in over a decade and is competing for MVP awards yearly.
Smith knew that Dončić had a ton of potential heading into the league, but even surpassed his expectations. “He’s [expletive] near the best player in the world," Smith said. "He’s up there.
I ain’t know he was going to be this cold.” MORE MAVS NEWS: Mavericks star Luka Doncic harshly criticized by NBA champion questioning effort.
