Dennis Smith Jr. of the New York Knicks has asked the Front Office to play for the Westchester Knicks in the G-League. This is what Stefan Bondy reports from New York Daily News. The earlier lottery pick has not been used by the Knickerbockers in the past eight games and wants to gain game practice.
Smith Jr. started trading for Kristaps Porzingis from the Dallas Mavericks two years ago and was supposed to represent the long-term solution to the point guard position in the Big Apple, but he was never able to fulfill these hopes. There are only three missions in the current season, also due to a hip injury.
The Mavericks picked Smith Jr. ninth in the 2017 draft, and after a promising season (15.2 points, 5.2 assists), he was elected to the All-Rookie First Team. After the arrival of Luka Doncic, however, he increasingly moved into the second rank, due to his mixed distance throw, he was not a good option off the ball.
In the preseason Smith Jr. appeared in a reduced role 34 times for the Knicks (5.5 points, 2.9 assists in 15.8 minutes), currently the minutes in the backcourt go to Elfrid Payton, Austin Rivers and the convincing First round pick Immanuel Quickley.
After the season, Smith Jr. will become an unrestricted free agent if the Knicks fail to present him with a qualifying offer of $ 7 million. This seems extremely unlikely at this point in time. The Westchester Knicks are one of 18 G-League teams playing their season in Orlando. Myles Powell, Jared Harper and Theo Pinson also belong to the roster.
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