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Barkley: Rookie award will come down to Mavericks' Smith, Kings' Fox

Michelle Farsi / National Basketball Association / Getty

While new Los Angeles Lakers floor general Lonzo Ball is the betting favorite to take home NBA Rookie of the Year honors this upcoming season, Hall of Famer and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley is eyeing a couple of other first-year guards in the race for the hardware.

I think Dennis Smith is a stud," Sir Charles said at the SMU Athletic Forum on Wednesday, according to Sports Day's Eddie Sefko. "I picked him for Rookie of the Year. I think it's going to come down to him and De'Aaron Fox (of Sacramento). I think they're both terrific.

"I love what the Mavs did drafting him. I had to flip a coin between him and De'Aaron Fox for Rookie of the Year. It could go either way."

Barkley has a great deal in common with the 2017 class, as a majority of those players also hold Smith in high regard, giving him just over a quarter of the votes for the award in the annual Rookie Survey. Fox, though, didn't even finish among the top six.

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle isn't ready to anoint the NC State alumnus his starter just yet, saying last month that the 19-year-old Smith will have to earn his playing time and compete with the likes of Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell.

Fox, on the other hand, will almost certainly serve as the primary backup - at least from the get-go - to the Kings' big free-agent acquisition in George Hill, who signed a three-year, $57-million contract with the organization.

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