I’m really feeling this connection between Dennis Smith Jr. and Dirk Nowitzki. Young and old. Black and white. Short and tall. An unlikely pairing, no doubt, but a fruitful one. Stockton and Malone is an easy comparison to make, but those two had their whole careers to maximize their partnership, to learn each other’s curves and to fit together like two puzzle pieces. Smith Jr. and Nowitzki only have a year or two more at most.
Maxi Kleber is not an adequate replacement in this case. He may be in other ways, but not in this one.