Gotta wait until Kemba & Teague return before we make decisions on Smart that are primarily based on his offensive failings
Funny thing is, Smart is having his finest year as a Celtic on the offensive side of the ball.
Not really. He's just hitting threes at the moment.
Because Walker is out he gets considerably more on ball time, so he logs a couple more assists. He's got all the same warts. He doesn't have NBA level skills as a scorer/penetrator inside the arc. He's a respectable passer, but is still a ball stopper and still makes stupid decisions due to an inability to understand his limitations.
But we know the cycle. Due to his playing style, he inevitably gets dinged up, he misses a couple of games, breaking his rhythm, and his quickness and finishing ability go from bad to worse. He will have a dismal stretch of shooting. He will end up shooting 35% or so from 3's, not 40%.
This isn't about whether the ball is going in a bit more. He's approaching 27. He doesn't accept who he is or what his role should be. In his entire career, his only offensive evolution was to go from horrible to tolerable as a 3 point shooter.
If he just generally accepted his role, he would be every bit as valuable as many Celtics fans believe him to be. But he won't.