That, more than anything, seemed to be the most prominent weakness associated with him throughout the NBA draft process where “experts” nitpick a prospect’s game. That knock might have been why what many felt to be a top-five talent fell to the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick on Thursday night.
Smith, a one-and-done player out of North Carolina State, pointed to the “effort” criticism as the biggest misconception about him during his introductory news conference on Friday afternoon at the American Airlines Center.
“That was put out a lot and we had a lot of things going on last year with our team,” Smith said.