Former Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr. finds starting role with Pistons

With the Knicks, Dennis Smith Jr. could not crack the rotation, a situation that had become pressing enough that he opted to head down to the G League bubble to find his way. But before he could take the court for Westchester, his path was shifted to Detroit, as he joined the Pistons in a trade that brought Derrick Rose to the Knicks.

While Rose has helped stabilize the Knicks, providing another offensive creator to help the team through the double- and triple-teaming tactics employed against Julius Randle, Smith suddenly has found an opportunity.

After appearing in only three games for the Knicks and totaling less than 30 minutes of playing time, Smith has found not only a role but a starting role with the Pistons. And if he wanted to show the Knicks something on more than paper, he got a chance as the two teams faced each other Sunday night.

"My time that I had with Dennis, it wasn’t a long period of time, but I enjoyed Dennis a lot off the floor," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He got hurt early on. And we got into a rotation, and he wasn’t in it. But he handled himself extremely well. He was excellent in practice. He was excellent off the court. So it’s good that he’s getting an opportunity and obviously we wish him well."

Smith entered Sunday having played nine games for the Pistons, averaging 7.9 points per game and shooting 41.4% overall and 33.3% from beyond the arc. But because of injuries, he started the previous four games and performed well, averaging 12 points and four assists per game, including a 17-point, six-assist, zero-turnover effort in his last game against Sacramento. As a starter, he has shot 50.0% from the floor and 46.7% from three-point range.

"One, out of necessity," Pistons coach Dwane Casey said of Smith’s move to the starting lineup. "Delon Wright went down. Killian Hayes is already out. He’s a guy we’re definitely looking at for the future to see where he is. He’s stepped up and shown some good things, getting where he wants with the basketball.

"He’s been a model citizen. So far so good. I’m really impressed with him how he approaches practice. His attention to detail, how he approaches film. He’s been a model teammate. We’re excited to see where this goes."

"Truth be told, you never want to get too comfortable because you end up being complacent," Smith told reporters Saturday. "But you can definitely tell when the feel for the game starts to come back, especially from the situation I was coming from. I can feel my feel coming back for me."

The Knicks are not unhappy to see Smith resurrecting his career because Rose has been a key ingredient for them. He started his third straight game Sunday because of Elfrid Payton’s hamstring injury. Rose averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 assists in his previous two games as a starter, shooting 13-for-22 from the field.

Rose has said little about his time in Detroit, maintaining that he wants to keep the past behind him.

"I’m happy for Derrick," Casey said. "He got to go where he wanted to go. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer someday. I know he’s going to be a Hall of Famer one day. I enjoyed every day working with him and talking to him and seeing what he sees in a game — his thoughts. I know it rubbed off on our young guys.

"For us, Dennis, where we are in the stage of our program, it fits in our timeline. It worked out for both sides."

Notes & quotes: Payton remains day-to-day. He is traveling with the team and receiving treatment. Taj Gibson, who suffered a sprained left ankle Saturday, did not travel with the Knicks and also is listed as day-to-day . . . Thibodeau, asked if he would like to see the team obtain center help with Gibson out and Mitchell Robinson already sidelined with a fractured right hand, said, "That’s a Leon question. We have more than enough on the roster, so we’ll figure out a way." 

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.