About an hour before tipoff on Opening Night, Dennis Smith Jr. was talking to the media -- perhaps that was the surest sign that he is, in fact, a rookie -- and said this:
"I'm going to come out and do what I'm supposed to do, and hopefully we'll win the game.''
Thirty-five seconds into his NBA career, Smith used a screen from Dirk Nowitzki to free himself for a lob pass from Yogi Ferrell and threw down a dunk for the team's first points of the season.
As the ninth pick of the draft, that is what Smith is supposed to do.