Dennis Smith Jr. missed the last five games before Christmas to rest his sprained right wrist. He missed 10 games in all because of the injury, coming back to play a handful of times, but aggravating the problem was something that happened too often for his liking.
The starting point guard believes he's very close to returning to action and that he "for sure" will be in uniform before 2018 is history.
"I'm making great progress," he said after the final pre-Christmas game Sunday in Portland. "I'm getting better with everything and it's feeling better every day.