Dennis Smith Jr. is coming off a solid year for the Brooklyn Nets.

The former NC State star finished the season with averages of 6.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per contest while shooting 43.5% from the field and 29.4% from the three-point range in 56 games.

This summer, he became a free agent who is available to sign with any team in the NBA.

On Friday, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported intel from around the league.

He noted that Smith Jr. could be an option for the Dallas Mavericks.

Via Scotto’s article on HoopsHype: “The Dallas Mavericks have considered bringing one of two former guards back to the team, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dennis Smith Jr, league sources told HoopsHype.”

Smith Jr. was initially the ninth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Mavs.

He spent part of two seasons with Dallas and was teammates with Luka Doncic for 32 games.

In addition to the Mavs and Nets, Smith Jr. has also spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons over seven seasons.

His career averages are 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per contest while shooting 40.7% from the field and 29.8% from the three-point range in 326 regular season games.

As for the Mavs, they are coming off a season where they were the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record.

They reached the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2011 season.

Some Stars fans were probably rejoicing in their living rooms when the news broke yesterday that the Stars are leaving Bally Sports. With how Bally Sports has modeled their business the last couple of seasons, some fans have been left in the dark without any hockey. For the rest of the fanbase, it’s been easy to watch the Stars when they play. It seems like that will all change next season, with the Stars scrambling to get something easy to access for fans across the USA.

This divorce seemed inevitable with how the Texas Rangers will move on from Bally Sports after the current season. With all the streaming options available right now online, everyone seems to be watching TV this way. The Stars will be the second hockey team to break up with Bally Sports. The Florida Panthers were the first team to do so. This could mean several paths for the Stars right now. Here are some options the Stars could go after the news yesterday.

According to Sportico, the Stars are looking at a TV deal and a streaming package for fans without cable. The Las Vegas Golden Knights did this last season with KnightTime+, and their fanbase loved the streaming option. The Stars will probably create a similar model that will exclude nationally televised games on NBC, TNT, or ESPN. I know people who aren’t technology savvy will have a fit with this route, but times have changed since the analog box back in the day. People are on their computers, tablets, and smartphones all the time.

There isn’t much more on the subject now, but Blackout Dallas will update you when we hear the plans for accessing Dallas Stars hockey next season. Hopefully, the Stars hire all the fan favorites so it doesn’t feel like a new makeover for watching hockey next season. If you’re a Dallas Sports fan, be prepared for changes to watching sports in the DFW Metroplex. It will be interesting to see how people love the new way, but it’s for the better with all the issues Bally Sports has caused.

The fireworks were big and loud on July 4th for FC Dallas. Not only did the post-game celebration include the annual fireworks show for the fans, but the game itself included plenty of fireworks, as FC Dallas downed the Portland Timbers 3-2.

FC Dallas’s come-from-behind win helped end a two-game losing streak. The club now heads to Kansas City for what will be one of its most important weeks this season.

We’ll shift gears to Kansas City tomorrow, but let’s first dive into last night’s fun win with some items we learned along the way.

I won’t dive too much into the first half. Aside from the Timbers getting a very early look at goal 16 seconds into the match and then the actual first goal of the game minutes later, there really wasn’t a ton to write home about in the opening 45 minutes.

Thankfully, whatever interim manager Peter Luccin said at halftime worked. FC Dallas came out more aggressive and pressed the Timbers into bad turnovers on their own end.