Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Miami Heat Signs Ex-Mavs Guard in Major Deal

Back in 2017, Dennis Smith Jr. was one of the most electrifying prospects in his draft class. He was selected ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks, and nine seasons and six organizations later, that same player has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Miami Heat, a deal that comes with no guarantee he'll even make it to training camp with the actual NBA roster.

According to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Smith has agreed to sign with the Heat, though he won't be in Miami when training camp opens. Instead, Smith is expected to head straight to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat's G League affiliate, continuing a relationship that already began last season.

Smith has a brief, four-game stint with Real Madrid in early 2025. He then returned stateside and split last season between the Milwaukee Bucks' G League affiliate and Miami's, ultimately appearing in 32 combined G League games while averaging 8.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals on modest shooting splits.

He'd also signed a training camp deal with Dallas last fall that didn't result in a regular-season roster spot, making Miami his latest attempt at finding stable NBA footing.

Across 326 career NBA games with multiple franchises, Smith has averaged 9.7 points, 4.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Numbers that reflect real NBA-level talent that's never quite translated into a lasting role, largely due to persistent shooting struggles.

Miami's front office is entering the season with plenty of attention already on the roster following the offseason trade that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach. But depth signings like Smith's still matter for a team hoping to build out a full roster around its new franchise cornerstone.

One NBA analyst described the signing as "low-risk, medium-reward." The analyst noted that if any organization can get the most out of Smith at this stage of his career, Miami's development-focused system could be the place to do it.

The financial structure of the deal reflects just how unsettled Smith's path to the actual roster remains. If he's waived before the regular season and ends up spending at least 60 days with Sioux Falls, he'd be eligible for a bonus worth up to $91,000 on top of his G League salary.

With Miami already sitting just $2.6 million below its first-apron hard cap and 14 players on standard contracts, carrying Smith as a 15th man anytime soon would eat into flexibility the front office likely wants to preserve.

Between the well-traveled résumé and the modest terms of this latest deal, Smith's Heat signing looks less like an addition to the roster lock and more like a continuation of the audition he's been on for years. For a player once viewed as a franchise cornerstone in his own right, landing back in the G League system that already knows him well may be exactly the low-pressure path he needs to find his way back to a full-time NBA role.