It’s easy to see why the Mavericks quickly moved to patch what appeared to be a broken relationship with point guard Dennis Smith Jr. After all, they used their lottery position last year to choose him ninth overall in the draft, and it would have been foolhardy of them to then give up on him after just a season and a half. For all his pouting, the potential he showed in earning All-Rookie Second Team honors remained, and they felt confident his pairing with superstar-in-the-making Luka Doncic would eventually succeed.
Not that the Mavericks didn’t try to move past Smith early on in his absence. When he started sitting out matches two weeks ago officially due to back issues followed by an illness, they sought to gauge outside interest in him. Not having liked what they saw in terms of trade possibilities, they proceeded to mend fences with him. And, in this regard, no less than head coach Rick Carlisle led the courtship, publicly declaring him to be welcome to return from issues described as solely business related.
So return Smith did, and, true enough, Carlisle acted as if nothing happened. And he wasn’t simply reinserted in the starting lineup yesterday despite having missed six games and significant practice time in between. He wound up playing the most number of minutes and taking the most number of shots among all the Mavericks en route to posing a heady 17-8-4 line. He faded late, but his in-contest swoon didn’t matter in the context of a much-needed victory. The optics told the tale: He came back and helped stop a four-outing losing streak — against the highly regarded Clippers no less.
How the Mavericks’ opinion of Smith, and vice versa, will ultimately be shaped is anybody’s guess. At this point, though, they’re clearly bent on moving forward together. Parenthetically, it helps that he and Doncic get along well off the court, and that the latter gave him a vote of confidence while he was away. That said, there’s a pecking order he needs to understand if he is to keep wearing blue and white; he’s second at best, and he will have to continue proving his worth as such.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
