Former New York Knicks point guard, Chris Childs had an interview with a media company by the name of Knicksfantv recently. When discussing the playing style of Dennis Smith Jr., Chris Childs states,
“All Smith has to do is start studying the point-guard position because he’s more of a combo guard, a scorer and that’s fine. But he plays like Steve Francis too. They play the same, Stevie was a combo guard, they play a similar style, but if Stevie would’ve studied how to play the point guard position of how to be a point guard and how to direct and how to get people in position because you can always get points as a point guard, because you have the ball, but get the other guys involved early so they’ll have confidence late in the game when you need them in the fourth quarter. So once he understands that, greatness is up to him”.
The former tough Knick point guard also talks about the classic Kobe Bryant altercation which was quiet entertaining.
Dennis Smith Jr. has been working hard on different aspects of his game just like what any other 21-year old NBA player should be doing this offseason. The comparison to Steve Francis is definitely realistic, however, Smith must continue learning and understanding the point guard position.
The New York Knicks didn’t take a point-guard last draft of course because of RJ Barrett. However, the other reason was that the organization seem pretty high on Dennis Smith Jr. as point-guard of the future. Now if the Knicks picked second in last years draft, they might’ve selected Ja Morant, but RJ Barrett would’ve still been a strong candidate at the second pick. Bottom line is Dennis Smith Jr. has an opportunity to turn his career around for the better after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the New York Knicks and working on his point guard skills will be great for him in the long run. An improvement as a floor general from DSJ would benefit the Knicks tremendously, even possibly catapulting the New York Knicks into the NBA playoffs.