[Dennis Smith Jr. Is ranked as the 144th-best player in the league according to stats](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eC5he67RBWiclITXY6OdR3qCz_fnL3-r5AJkgEh45hQ/edit#gid=702171522)
Obviously, statistics are not everything (Luka at 22!), but to get him at such a low contract is a steal, and he’s only 25. We were already a good defense last season with our starting lineup of Spencer Dinwiddie | Dorian Finney-Smith | Mikal Bridges | Nicolas Claxton | Cameron Johnson, and that was when Dorian had a thumb injury. DSJ is a great perimeter defender who took a pay cut to join our team.
I think he could be a sleeper for signing of the year.
by Stock-Astronomer2709
3 Comments
I think I need to see what lineup heād be a part of first.
Iāve actually always loved DSJ and thought Dallas did him a little dirty. Iām excited to root for him. The thing that concerns me about our off-season, though, is that each individual signing is good, but Iām not clear on what it ladders up to. Thatās always been my complaint about Marks. I think he gets so excited about finding diamonds in the rough that he never stops to ask what our gameplan is and what needs we have within that.
If we canāt reliably shoot or score, we would need our defense to be historically elite to stay in the game. And if we donāt rebound well as a team, our defense is going to need to regularly make multiple stops per possession.
Iām burnt out on pessimism and just trying to be excited about watching young, hustling, high character guys next season. But Iām definitely curious if the pieces, as appealing as each might be, will fit together.
Heās one of the best defensive guards in basketball. Seems like the direction of the team is to be a defensive juggernaut next year.
Knicks fan here and I got excited about this signing for y’all.
He had a rough go in NY – he came in as a guy who recently put up 15/5 per game as a rookie and then he just fell off a cliff after not meshing immediately with Luka.
He had a bunch of personal stuff that seemed to alter his trajectory including losing his stepmom who he was super close with IRC.
It’s not totally surprising that he’s figured out a way to use his crazy athleticism to affect the game well with defense. Effort and caring never seemed to be the problem. Hoping he keeps building it back up with BK.