Post by Donny - Bucks on Oct 13, 2018 7:47:29 GMT
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The 130th nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame is one of the more interesting cases in the history of the NBN, going from an absolute superstar carrying a team to a playr who had essentially fallen off the face of the Earth the year he retired. Was Dennis Smith Jr good enough to get into the Hall? Let's discuss.
Career Stats
1,419 games - 23.7 PPG, 8.9 APG, 4.2 RPG, 2.2 SPG, .2 BPG, 2.4 TOPG, 47.9% from the field, 90.6% from the line, 43.2% from three
Best Season
2025 Lakers - 30.6 PPG, 9.8 APG, 4.6 RPG, 3.1 SPG, .3 BPG, 2.3 TOPG, 49.6% from the field, 89.9% from the line, 43.6% from three
Career Highs
Points: 55
Rebounds: 15
Assists: 20
Steals: 8
Blocks: 3
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 384
Player of the Week: 20
Player of the Month: 7
Double Doubles: 600
Triple Doubles: 16
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Games - 18
Points - 15
Assists - 4
Steals - 5
Field Goals - 14
3 Pointers - 14
Turnovers - 13
Triple Doubles - 39
Triple Doubles - 39
Awards
2017 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2017 - All-Rookie Team
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-League Third Team
2026 - All-Star Game Participant
2026 - Most Valuable Player
2026 - All-League First Team
2026 - All-Defensive Second Team
2027 - All-Star Game Participant
2027 - All-League First Team
2028 - All-Star Game Participant
2028 - All-League Third Team
2029 - All-Star Game Participant
2029 - All-League First Team
2031 - All-Star Game Participant
2031 - All-Star Game MVP
2031 - All-League Third Team
Arguments For Induction
- Dennis had one of the best peaks of any player in NBN history, in my eyes. Not only did he shoot over 47% for 9 seasons in a row, he put up 25 PPG while doing it on top of shooting ridiculous percentages in particular years, four times over 49% from the field, over 94% from the line, and over 45% from three.
- Dennis essentially carried the Lakers for the better part of a decade. As soon as Dennis declined, so did the Lakers. Bad. Like, really bad.
- Six All-League teams in a point guard heavy league that's absolutely flooded with talent. Pretty damn solid if I say so myself especially considering he didn't take off until he was with the Lakers.
- 2026 MVP. It's hard to hold out a guy some may consider borderline when you flash the fact that he was the MVP.
- Longevity was a factor that has to be considered. Every year he got starter minutes (2019 -> 2033), he put up 20+ points, 8.5+ assists, 4 rebounds per game. The decline came at the last season only, but for the other 15 seasons he was absolutely incredible.
- 7x Player of the Month, 20x Player of the Week, 600 double doubles, 16 triple doubles.
Arguments Against Induction
- Assist totals might be slightly low for a point guard, but you have to consider over 10% of his career games came with him coming off the bench.
- Not a particularly "elite" defender throughout his career, only landing on the All-Defensive team one time.
- Ringless. Less because of him, more because of the teams around him lacking talent around him.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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