This seems to be, in some ways, the summer of Marcus Smart. With Kemba Walker gone, there is a question as to who the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics might be when the next season tips off.
As much as I’d like to think there’s an obvious answer to that question, there are plenty of Celtics fans who don’t. Judging from my Q&A here this week, there is plenty of distaste for Smart amongst the masses. There’s even a little animus, which really is confusing to me.
I’m not gatekeeping fandom here -- you can boo and cheer however you want -- but I don’t get why anyone is mad at Smart for putting his body on the line and playing his butt off every night. He never slacks, he is very willing to do the dirty work, and he has expressed an affinity for the city every chance he gets.
The worst thing he does is take bad shots. I don’t get why some people are so mad.
That digression aside, there’s room for some debate about where Smart fits in this whole thing. I believe he can be a starting point guard for this team and that a consistent role where he initiates the offense that (a) forces him to give up the ball early in the shot clock and (b) lets him prepare for one role every night instead of filling in as a starter for anyone on the perimeter who misses a game is a good development for all parties. The consistent facilitator role should lead to fewer early shot clock heat checks and more catch-and-shoot opportunities off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown drives.
We’ll see if I’m right or wrong. But now that a new coach is taking over, it’s time to relitigate the Smart situation with the new honcho’s take.
“What Marcus brings is invaluable. It’s the heart and soul of the team at times,” Ime Udoka told Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 earlier this week. “He has that edge and toughness about him, so the things he brings to your team are the things you’d love every player to bring. You hate playing against him, but you want him on your side. So he’s another foundational piece. He’s been here through thick and thin, seen the winning and seen some downtimes, so what he does for Jayson and Jaylen is invaluable in my eyes.”
Is Udoka blowing smoke because he was asked a direct question about Smart’s spot on the team?
Maybe.
The question was framed to ask Udoka whether he regarded Smart as one of the pillars of the team along with Tatum and Brown, so any answer short of “yes” would have immediately led to a significant conversation after the interview about how he wasn’t very sold on Smart. Then the aggregation machine would have kicked in and a dozen different outlets would have done stories on how he stopped short of including Smart in that group. And then podcasters (ahem, hello) would have dedicated segments to it.
So of course Udoka was going to gush about Smart’s role and use the term “invaluable” a couple of times.
But then again, he could have been telling the truth. We spent a whole season lamenting Boston’s lack of edge and toughness; Smart is the one guy on the team who brings that on a regular basis.
And whether you believe he should or shouldn’t be the starting point guard, he’s their best choice right now on a team with few options for finding a better one.
Basically, what I’m saying is ... get used to it. No matter where you fall on the Smart meter, Smart’s the guy. And frankly, from a sheer transactional perspective, he needs to be the guy right now.
Smart’s $14.3 million is a great contract to use for aggregation in a bigger trade. The Smart-plus-(young bench player)-for-(pretty good point guard) is, as the kids say nowadays, not it.
Just from a sheer team-building perspective, trading Smart and a young forward (Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith) for an okay offensive upgrade and noticeable defensive downgrade is an absolute waste of assets. If we simply reduce things down to contracts and value, blowing Smart’s contract on a marginal upgrade while attaching a second or third-year player at the bottom of his value reduces Boston’s chances of making the bigger trade at the deadline.
You don’t jump into the stock market just to keep selling stocks at their low point. Buy high/sell low leads to a pretty empty bank account in a hurry. Langford and Nesmith need some time to show the league what they’ve got. We need to see if Smart as the regular starter in a well-defined role can snap some of his offensive deficiencies into focus.
Brad Stevens has three more moves this offseason: figure out what to do with Evan Fournier, use a traded player exception to acquire some frontcourt/wing depth, and find another backup point guard with the taxpayer MLE.
Once those moves are done, it’s time to put these ingredients in a pot and see what happens. From there, Stevens can adjust the recipe.
But that recipe will include Smart. Get used to it.
I discussed Smart at greater length on the latest Locked On Celtics podcast, which you can watch on YouTube.