Is Dennis Smith Jr. Off the Ball a Nod to Draft Plans?

Is the insertion of J.J. Barea into the starting lineup a nod to draft plans for the summer and a potential fit alongside Dennis Smith Jr.?

The Dallas Mavericks drafted the 19-year-old Dennis Smith Jr. last June to be their starting point guard of the future.

Except what does point guard even mean anymore in the NBA?

Up until a few years ago, the definition of a point guard was pretty simple. They were normally the smallest guy in the starting lineup who brought the ball down the court and ran the offense. Now, teams are rolling out multiple players who run the offense and bring the ball up the court.

In Portland, you have two point guards in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum that start together. Then you have teams like Milwaukee and Philadelphia that run 6’10” players at the point guard spot.

In the Mavericks’ game against Los Angeles last night, the Lakers rolled out Lonzo Ball and Isaiah Thomas in the second unit together.

Almost every team in the league has some type of lineup with two “point guard types” on the court at the same time.

Looking like they will have a top five pick in the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft and Dennis Smith Jr. as their point guard of the future, is Carlisle using the second half of the season to see how Smith Jr. could play with a few of top prospects in the draft?

“It is just a new world for him,” Rick Carlisle told Mavs.com last month about Smith Jr. playing off-the ball.

After Maxi Kleber got a decent run in the starting unit, Carlisle has elected to run J.J. Barea in the starting lineup alongside of Smith Jr. in the back court. Barea has started in four of the last five games.

“Something like playing off the ball with Barea really helps Dennis understand another position on the floor, too, kind of the thinking part of the 2 position,” Carlisle told Mavs.com. You can read Bobby Karalla’s full breakdown of Smith Jr. playing off the ball here.

Is this a nod to some potential draft plans come the summer?

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Is this a chance to see what Smith Jr. would look like off-the-ball if they drafted another ball dominant player?

At the top of many draft boards across national media sites is the European sensation in Luka Doncic. Doncic is a 6’7″ point forward who is putting up numbers in Europe that have never been done before.

But Doncic is at his best when the ball is in his hands and the offense is running through him.

Barea isn’t 6’7″ and definitely isn’t Luka Doncic, but putting Barea in the starting unit beside of Smith Jr. could be the Mavericks trying to get a look at what life what look like with Doncic running the offense and Smith Jr. playing off-the-ball.

But Doncic isn’t the only one.

If Dallas is picking in the 6-8 range on draft night, players like Trae Young and Collin Sexton should be on the board. They too are ball dominant guards who would take the ball out of Dennis’ hands.

Next: Smith Jr., Noel Cited in Yahoo NCAA Report

Carlisle is most likely just trying to grow Dennis’ game, but you can’t help to think about his off-the-ball fit with potential prospects when watching him alongside of Barea.