Keep this in mind in any exploration of Dennis Smith, Jr.’s rookie NBA season:
None of this surprises him.
Smith believes if the one-and-done rule didn’t exist, he would have fared just fine in a high schools-to-pros leap a year earlier. Instead, Smith – who grew up in Fayetteville – spent one college season at N.C. State before the Dallas Mavericks drafted him ninth overall.
He recently assembled his first NBA triple-double in a road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. His reaction after that game was more a shrug than elation. He was happy to finish with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but he did that in Raleigh, too.