​When NBA Commissioner David Stern handed down the hammer in 2000, the Timberwolves were fined $3.5 million and stripped of five consecutive first-round draft picks (though one was later restored). For Smith, the immediate professional fallout was jarring. “I was basically forced to play somewhere else,” Smith recalled. “When the ruling came down, I had two options: if I wanted to go back to Minnesota, I had to sit out an entire year before I could sign a contract with them again. Or, I could sign somewhere else, play that season out, and then return to Minnesota later if I wanted to.”ScoopB.com