NBA
Six Teams Attend Dennis Smith’s Pro Day
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated04 Oct 2023
The Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat all sent representatives to watch Dennis Smith at his Pro Day, as Basketball Insiders first reported.
Among those on hand to watch Smith were Hornets coach Steve Clifford and general manager Rich Cho, Timberwolves president and coach Tom Thibodeau, as well as Knicks director of player personnel Mark Hughes, league sources told Basketball Insiders.
Rio Grande Valley Vipers player development coach Nick Friedman led the workout, sources told Basketball Insiders. Friedman has previously trained Terry Rozier, Taurean Prince, Kobi Simmons, Derrick Jones Jr. and Abdel Nader during the pre-draft process. Friedman was also recently named an assistant coach for the Haitian National Team.
Smith, the ACC Rookie of the Year, has been compared to players such as Russell Westbrook, Baron Davis and Steve Francis due to his rare explosive athleticism as a point guard. Smith averaged 18.1 points on 46 percent shooting from the field, 36 percent from downtown and 72 percent from the foul line. He also averaged 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in his lone season at N.C. State and was named to the All-ACC Second Team.
Smith is projected by colleagues Steve Kyler, Moke Hamilton and I to be selected eighth overall by the Knicks in our latest mock draft. Colleague Joel Brigham projects Dennis Smith to be selected sixth overall by the Orlando Magic.
For more on Dennis Smith’s pre-draft workouts, check out the following video footage from Christopher Costello:
