ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski turned Dennis Smith Jr.’s world upside down on trade deadline day when he mistakenly said Smith was to be traded.
Woj reported that the Nets guard had been traded to the Raptors with Spencer Dinwiddie in a deal for Dennis Schroder, only to correct his mistake minutes later, and clarify that Smith wasn’t involved.
After Brooklyn’s 123-103 win over San Antonio on Saturday, Smith recalled the moment he thought he was getting traded.
“I got Woj tweets on, so all of his tweets come to my phone as soon as he tweets them on deadline day,” Smith told reporters. “I see Spencer going there. I’m on FaceTime, and I see my name pop up. I’m like, ‘Hell nah!’ I click on it, and it says, ‘Dennis Smith Jr. traded to the Raptors.’ I had a knot in my stomach, I was sick!
“…I’m looking at my phone and it says [Nets assistant General Manager] Andy Birdsong. He’s calling me as I saw it. And I’ve been traded before mid-year so I’m like, ‘He’s gonna deliver the news.’ So I’m looking that thing like, ‘I’m not gonna answer this sh**!’ Then I press answer and he’s like, ‘Nah! Nah! Nah! It’s a typo. You good. You staying here. Don’t worry.’ So I start hitting everyone up and telling them, ‘That’s cap! I ain’t going nowhere!”
Poor Smith explained that his phone was blowing up that trade day, and he couldn’t even get through his pre-game ritual after the news.
“I ain’t even get no pregame nap that day,” Smith said. “I was sick. I went outside and took a little walk to try to decompress. It was crazy.”
The Net’s new backcourt, featuring the two Dennises, is off to a promising start following Saturday’s win.
In his debut, Schroder scored 15 points, three rebounds 12 assists on 60 percent shooting from three, while Smith had 14 points, six rebounds and two assists on 66.7 percent from the field and from three.
READ MORE: Dennis Schroder Reacts to Being Traded to the Nets