It was inside the American Airlines Center last June that news came across the televisions that the Dallas Mavericks selected Dennis Smith Jr. with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
A short time after, it was time for Rick Carlisle to address the media to talk about the pick and how excited they were that Smith Jr. had fallen to them. One thing he made clear pretty quick was that Smith Jr. would come in and compete in training camp, but they planned for him to be the starting point guard on opening night.
It was a surprise to some, but the hole in the lineup was there and Dallas didn’t want to wait for Smith Jr.