It’s not a surprise that Dennis Smith Jr. is the best Dallas Mavericks rookie in decades. The Mavericks are notorious for not getting much out of the draft in the Dirk Nowitzki era, choosing to flip those picks in trades to try and build a contender around Dirk during his prime.
After the new CBA in 2011, the Mavericks tried to build through free agency, and pushed down their draft picks to preserve as much cap space as possible. Only three Mavericks first-round draft picks (Shane Larkin, Justin Anderson and Smith) from this decade are playing in the NBA right now.