LeBron James was impressed by Dennis Smith Jr. and believes the New York Knicks made a mistake passing on him to let him slide to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks selected Frank Ntilikina eighth overall in front of the Mavericks at No. 9.

"The Knicks passed on a really good one, and Dallas got the diamond in the rough," James said. "He should be a Knick. That's going to make some headlines, but he should be a Knick. Dallas is definitely, I know they're excited that he didn't go there."

The Cavs' next game is Monday night against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

Ntilikina was the final draft pick of Phil Jackson, who made insensitive comments about JAmes last November. Jackson characterized James' business associates as a "posse."