Dennis Smith Jr. and unpredictable hope

For more than a decade, Dirk Nowitzki provided the Dallas Mavericks with a high floor when it came to wins and losses. Nowitzki was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks ninth overall and immediately traded to Dallas for Robert “Tractor” Traylor. For the next decade and a half, the Mavericks wouldn’t select higher than 12th in the draft, thanks to Nowitzki’s hall of fame presence on the roster.Eighteen years later, the Mavericks would select ninth in the NBA draft again. This ti