Former NC State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Smith averaged 18.1 points, 6.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game in his lone season at State under former coach Mark Gottfried before moving on to the NBA. Smith was awarded ACC Freshman of the Year for his play in 2016-17.
Smith came to Raleigh as a consensus five-star recruit, ranked in the top 10 in the country, despite tearing his ACL as a senior in high school. He enrolled a semester early, in January 2016, to rehab his knee.
Smith is the first NC State player to be taken in the lottery of the draft since TJ Warren was selected 14th overall by the Phoenix Suns in 2014. He is also the highest Pack player to be drafted since Tom Gugliotta went sixth overall to the Washington Wizards in 1992.
The Mavericks missed the playoffs this year for only the second time since the 1999-2000 season to earn the ninth pick. Smith will immediately compete for the starting point guard position with Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell, who are both returning next season and got the majority of the playing time last year.
