Dennis Smith Jr. arrived in NY early for exercises with Knicks

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Earlier this week, we famous that there are folks within the Knick group who wish to see Dennis Smith Jr. get a reliable shot to bounce again in 2020-21.

Listed below are just a few different particulars on Smith Jr., who’s coming into his fourth season within the league and second season with the Knicks:

Smith Jr., per SNY sources, arrived in New York weeks earlier than formal particular person exercises started to work with Tom Thibodeau and the teaching employees. 

It’s unclear if Smith Jr. was the one Knick to work with coaches earlier than the voluntary particular person exercises, however his early arrival and dedication impressed some folks within the group. 

Smith Jr. is coming into a pivotal season. He’ll be a restricted free agent in the summertime of 2021. And he’s coming off of an uneven season that noticed him out and in of the Knick rotation. He handled accidents and the loss of life of an in depth member of the family over the course of the yr. We took a glance at a few of the context surrounding Smith Jr.’s season in a mailbag over the summer season. 

One other observe on Smith: Former NBA sharpshooter Mahmoud Abdul Rauf posted an image of he and Smith Jr. after a exercise. 

Per sources, Smith has had some exercises with Abdul-Rauf in New York and the exercises have been coordinated by his agent at Roc Nation, Raymond Brothers.

Smith’s athleticism and expertise is simple. However his capturing has been inconsistent and was sub-par final season. The Knicks tried to vary Smith Jr.’s shot final offseason, with the concept that he may open up the ground and turn out to be an excellent greater risk if groups needed to respect his capturing. However the work within the offseason didn’t produce tangible outcomes on the court docket.

Maybe Adbul-Rauf, who has skilled a number of NBA gamers lately, together with Ben Gordon, will help Smith Jr. enhance his shot. Rauf was a knock-down shooter within the NBA. Ex-Knicks president Phil Jackson mentioned Rauf was the participant who he considered most when he watched Stephen Curry’s rise as a shooter. 

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Ex-Knick Quentin Richardson and former Large Chris Canty joined a Zoom assembly with three dozen New York Metropolis youngsters and oldsters on Thursday to debate monetary literacy, psychological and bodily well being and wellness, schooling and their journeys as professional athletes. Richardson and Canty spoke to the group as a part of the Rise Up program, which was organized by Randy and Joe Cruz and Edgar Burgos. As a result of pandemic, the Cruz brothers needed to postpone their Orchard Seashore-based summer season streetball event, Hoops In The Solar. In order that they have been looking for methods to impression the group and started organizing socially-distanced exercises at their court docket on Orchard Seashore. The exercises featured native athletes like Knick Bobby Portis. Burgos labored with the Cruz brothers to assist coordinate the exercises and appearances. A whole bunch of youngsters attended. The outside exercises have transitioned to Zoom calls like Thursday nights, the place Richardson and Canty shared knowledge from their journeys with the kids. The decision was moderated by former Knick coordinator of group relations, Troy Bower.

“With this present pandemic, it was nice to have two skilled athletes reminiscent of Q and Canty come on and speak to the youngsters to maintain them educated, engaged and knowledgeable concerning the significance of staying at school, saving cash and having a powerful assist system,” Randy Cruz mentioned.

The Rise Up program has additionally featured monetary advisors from Morgan Stanley and former NFL participant Robert Mackey and school basketball participant Ara Talkov.



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