In a game of NBA word association, the words “Marcus Smart” would probably get most people to say “defense.”
He wants to change that.
“I’m a really good player on both ends of the floor,” Smart emphasized in a post-practice conversation on Thursday. “I have a high IQ, I see things that other guys don’t see. I led the team in assists last year.”
Smart knows he’s always going to be known as a defensive player, but it’s obvious now as he enters his eighth season that he wants it to be known that he can be a plus on offense. He’s very aware of the detractors who bring up his shooting, but he is also quick to remind people that he was pretty good against Brooklyn in the playoffs last season. He averaged 17.8 points while shooting 37.2% from deep while dishing out 6 assists over the five-game series.
“It speaks volumes for my playmaking skills and what I can do with the ball in my hands,” Smart said at media day of earning a starting point guard role. “Just having that opportunity to finally go out there and do it without having to look over my shoulder, or having to worry about what they’re going to tell me.”
Smart is quick to note was drafted sixth overall in the 2014 draft as a point guard, but he has never gotten to fully display the point guard skills that were part of why he was drafted so high.
“They drafted me … and they had (Rajon) Rondo,” Smart said. “Rondo leaves and they bring in Jameer Nelson. Nelson leaves and they bring in (Isaiah Thomas), and then they bring in Kyrie (Irving) and then Kemba (Walker).”
With each name Smart ticked off, he gave a look as if to suggest that he never felt the team trusted him enough to handle that role. Even if it may have been circumstances that made those players available at his position, Smart clearly feels that opportunities that could have been his have gone to others at his expense.
And so now Smart comes into this season obviously feeling like he has something to prove. That may be why he asked for more responsibility as the point guard. For once, though, asking might not have been necessary.
“We told him what role we envision him playing, having the ball in his hands more,” Ime Udoka said. “He’s a natural playmaker that can do some things. So we obviously want to find him and help him get guys shots. ... It’s something he’s going to embrace obviously. The ball’s going to be in his hands more and it’s a huge opportunity for him to step up and grow his game as well as his leadership.”
Most eyes will be looking to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown because they’re the team’s best players and leaders growing into their own, but it’s Smart who has been here longest and who has consistently been the team’s most vocal leader.
“Same old Marcus that we all know and love,” Brown said. “Still cursing people out, still complaining to the refs, letting his voice be heard. So I’ll keep you updated. But same old Marcus for sure.”
Others, though, see a bit of an evolution.
“Now he’s on the next level, always communicating, telling other guys what to do, and he’s always bringing so much heart as always,” Enes Kanter said. “When you see a veteran leader going out there and giving 100 percent, you cannot take any nights off. I like him being this leader, because all of these young guys, all of these point guards look up to him and idolize him because he’s a good role model. I’m happy he’s in this position now.”
Things are changing for Smart, and that seems to be how he wants it. He’s trying to learn a new coaching staff and their priorities. There are new sets, new play calls, and new terminology. He has new teammates to learn. He wants to make sure the shooters get their shots where they want them while setting up his primary scorers to be their best.
All the while, he’s developing new habits with a calmer mind, waking up knowing his role is defined for the first time in NBA life. He acknowledges his ability to fill in a lot of holes for the Celtics over the years has partly taken him away from the thing he’s always wanted to do most; that the versatility that developed into his biggest strength for the Celtics was, in a way, the weakness that took him away from being the point guard.
We all know Marcus Smart as a defensive monster; the cobra who may strike when least expected to make a big game-changing play. But the answer that perhaps best revealed where his mind is right now was when I asked what he would define as a successful season for him. Knowing that team goals come first and obviously the team wants to win a title, what would a successful season for Marcus Smart look like?
“A better 3-point percentage, a higher assist to turnover ratio, an uptick in my assists, and making my teammates around me better,” Smart said, focusing more on proving himself as a point guard rather than spouting all the usual defensive metrics. “If I can do all those things, then I’ve had a good year.”
