Rick Carlisle Reaches Out To Both Dennis Smith Jr. & His Agent

  [caption id="attachment_501731" align="alignnone" width="3600"] Photo Credit -NBA[/caption] Earlier this week, ESPN’ s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Macmahon, both reported that the Dallas Mavericks had discussed possibly trading Dennis Smith Jr. to both the Suns and the Orlando Magic. Smith is currently out with an injured back missing the last four games. After morning shootaround, Mavericks' head coach Rick Carlisle, open the media scrum with letting the media that he reach out to both Dennis and his agent. Informing both individuals that Dennis was welcome back to the team as soon as, he is feeling better. " Dennis Smith is not here, but I want to let everyone know, that I reached out to him and his agent last night. To let them know when he is feeling better, he is welcome to rejoin the team at any time. We would love to have him back. In his year and a half here, he has started every game that he has been available to play and during that period of time. He has experienced significant growth on both sides of the ball, and I am very proud of the progress that he has made. That is where we are, and I don't expect him to be on this trip, but again, I think he is a part of this team, and we love to have him back, says Carlisle.  

Rick Carlisle stated he spoke to Dennis Smith’s agent and told him we would love to have him back. When he is ready to return! #MFFL #DennisSmithJr #DSJ pic.twitter.com/avzxsRcSHy

— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford ) January 18, 2019

Thursday (1/17/19), on the Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective podcast, Tim McMahon, shared that General Manager and President of Basketball Operations of the Dallas Mavericks Donnie Nelson would prefer to keep DSJ. “Here’s the thing: Donnie Nelson doesn’t want to give up on him,” said  MacMahon Fellow ESPN reporter Jackie MacMullan follow with this statement “We know Rick. You know him. I know him. When he makes up his mind, there’s no going back.” Carlisle clashed with Rondo when he was in Dallas back in 2015 over the style of play in Dallas, and Rondo was eventually benched in the first round of the playoffs, and both sides would decide to go their separate ways.