Ex-Knick Chris Smith has entered the D-League draft with the hope of getting another opportunity to play in the NBA.
“Whatever's going to give me the best opportunity to perform on a level where I can get myself in a good position to get myself back into the NBA, that's the route I want to take,” Smith said last week in an interview at his skills camp for young players.
Smith, the younger brother of J.R. Smith, began last season on the Knicks' roster. His inclusion on the 15-man roster stirred strong emotion from the team's fan base because of his ties to his brother. Both the Knicks and Chris Smith have acknowledged that Smith's older brother was a factor in the team's decision to keep him.
The Knicks eventually sent Smith to their D-League team. Smith was released by the D League affiliate -- the Erie Bayhawks -- in March.
Over the summer, Smith worked out with the Dallas Mavericks and expected to play on their summer league team but was released before they played a game in Vegas.
He spent his time watching games from the stands.
“That probably hurt more than anything,” Smith said. “Because the last two years I played summer league, I think I did fairly well. But now I was fully ready and it was like, I can't play.”
Smith says he has drawn some interest from D-League teams and a few teams overseas.
The D League draft will take place next Saturday.
“He just needs a fresh start,” Marc Cornstein, Smith’s agent said. “He needs to be judged as Chris Smith and not anything else.”
Smith is aware that he was a lightning rod among the Knicks fan base last season because of the circumstances surrounding his inclusion on the roster.
“Every time that something happened, it comes out that Chris Smith is not that good. Maybe I am good, maybe it just wasn’t my time,” he said. “I’m a very humble guy, every situation humbles me. The next opportunity, I'm going to take full advantage of it.”
Fisher’s experience evaluating talent: He’s never coached before, but Derek Fisher has some experience in evaluating talent.
It was a small window and a different level of basketball, but Fisher thrived as a coach and talent evaluator on the Ball Up Streetball tournament. Fisher selected and coached a team of Los Angeles streetball players that played a competitive game against the top streetball players in the world.
“I noticed how immediately he garnered respect from his players as each guy intensely listened to his directions,” said Ball Up CEO Demetrius Spencer. “... Within the early moments of the first quarter of the game, Derek quickly strategized a great defensive scheme for his team and evaluated each Ball Up All Star. ... He understands the game of basketball from every aspect you could imagine; from the on-the-court players’ perspective to managing from the sidelines.”
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