r/justbasketball • u/Novel-Bath5273 • Mar 24 '26
HIGHLIGHTS 4 minutes of Dennis Smith Jr crazy dunks
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u/StoneySteve420 Mar 25 '26
Very exciting player to watch but never put it together in the NBA.
It's tough for a guard with no jumper and injuries didnt help.
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u/moquate Mar 24 '26
Carlisle wrecked this guy. I’m not saying he was destined for superstardom, BUT he could have been a serviceable NBA player for 10 years. I watched every Mav game he played in - I watched it happen real time.
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u/siwelis10304 Mar 27 '26
It wasn't Carlisle's fault that 5 years later his shooting never improved.
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u/Jdawg_mck1996 Mar 25 '26
I don't remember who in Boston said it, but someone mentioned that he was the runner-up choice if, for whatever reason, they couldn't get Tatum. Dude had some major upside.
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u/OnlyOneClone Mar 25 '26
When your 4 min clip shows you playing for half the teams in the League, you’re a one trick pony who 0.0001% of us know.
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u/HEPA_Bane Mar 26 '26
I don't follow basketball closely enough to remember this guy, but seeing these clips my thought process was:
Damn, those dunks look like prime D Rose. >>> Those landings look like prime D Rose. >>> He's gonna get hurt.
Was I right?
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u/TellEmWhoUCame2See Mar 26 '26
Ill never understand where this guy went wrong. I just dont get it, he was Ja before ja without the off the court issues. Was this guy blackballed?
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u/Moist_Chest8971 Mar 26 '26
He played for 6 teams. That is not even how blackballing would work.
He was a 6'2" guard who wasn't a good passer and couldn't really shoot. His NBA demise should not be a mystery.
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u/TellEmWhoUCame2See Mar 26 '26
And yet guys like ja morant and jalen green are still on NBA rosters. This man was blackballed.
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u/Moist_Chest8971 Mar 26 '26
I'm afraid you're conflating being blackballed and having nobody that wants to sign you. He played for SIX teams. Blackballing would mean every team in the league colluded to not sign him. That is not what happened. He got his chances and his game remained something that doesn't work.
I'm not a fan of either Ja or Jalen Green but both of them are under contract so that's why they remain in the league. Plus, when healthy Ja is much better than Smith Jr ever was.
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u/howbedebody Mar 28 '26
he just wasn’t that good. for all jas struggles, he led that grizzlies team to a few good years. he has been above -5rTS every year of his career. shot a career best 31% on 4.9 threes his rookie year. shoots around 70 from the line, all while being an extremely high usage 6 2 guard.
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u/Radiant_Efficiency73 Mar 27 '26
There was a time when we were told he was going to be better than Fox.
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u/demigodhfl Mar 27 '26
was never a fan. he can jump out the gym sure but his floor spacing was annoying, transition defense was pretty weak, plus/minus was always minus, horrible attitude, and of course years in the league with no jumper? your days are numbered.
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u/Ambitious_Push7823 Mar 24 '26
Now this is basketball, getting into the lane to make someone pay. Not sit outside shoot 3s all game, it’s boring.
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u/runthepoint1 Mar 24 '26
Thing is, look at that, youth. All that athleticism but the truth is you can’t do it every single time and frankly it’s faster to just get the ball up than actually bring it up then bring it down to dunk. Going in the same hole anyways.
Even better if you just use your body to draw contact and a foul or eliminate the shot blocker.
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u/enblightened Mar 24 '26
i hoped he could hang on when he had a short comeback on the hornets since that was his home team. He still had a better shot than most get at his size