Dennis Smith Jr. matters.
Signed to a one-year, vets minimum deal in the off-season, Smith has become a veteran presence despite his youth (turning 26 a month ago) and solid defender on a team that surprisingly has not played well on that end of the court. A strained lower back had kept him out for 14 games through last week, but now he’s healthy and is showing what he can do.
Start with the numbers. As Zach Braziller writes Monday for the Post,
[T]he Nets are 8-7 when he’s active and 6-8 when he is sidelined.