Dallas Mavericks Rookie Guard Dennis Smith Jr. Still Out Due to Swelling in Left Knee

By Noriel See, Christian Post Contributor Monday, October 23, 2017

Rookie guard Dennis Smith Jr. got people talking about how the Dallas Mavericks got the steal of this year's draft after he scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists in his National Basketball Association (NBA) debut against the Atlanta Hawks on last Wednesday.

Unfortunately, he has yet to follow that up with another impressive outing due to a left knee effusion. That means Smith is experiencing some swelling in his knee due to a buildup of fluid around the joint.

Smith had to sit out back-to-back games against the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets on Friday and Saturday after their season-opening loss to the Hawks because of his knee, but head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters that they were just being careful with him and the injury wasn't serious.

"He's got a little swelling, not believed to be serious," Carlisle said after their 93–88 loss to the Kings on Friday, via ESPN.

"He's had a little bit of minor swelling throughout training camp. It's just one of the symptoms of having an ACL [surgery in the past]. Doc checked him out, and we think he's going to be fine," he added.

Well, the Mavericks obviously knew that Smith tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee while he was still in high school in 2015, but he showed no lingering effects of the injury during his lone season at North Carolina State University. Smith's going to be fine, though, so there's no need to worry for now.

Partly due to the concern about his knee, Smith slipped to ninth in this year's draft and the Mavericks were glad to see that he was still available when it was their time to make their selection.

Dirk Nowitzki isn't going to play forever, so the Mavericks are hoping that Smith can develop into their franchise player when the 13-time All-Star finally calls it a career.