Marcus was given a humongous opportunity this year with the Hayward injury and he is laying the biggest egg ever. We all talk about his clutch plays - and it is hard to argue against this - but whose spot is he even going to take at the end of games next year? Tatum will be over a full year in and Brown is already a borderline all-star.
I just don't see where people get these huge #s from ($14M+/yr), but I do hope we can keep him.
Good point. Assuming health (a big assumption, I know), I think the Celtics will have (and should have) Hayward, Horford, Irving, Tatum, and Brown to start and close out games. I don't think Smart is worth $14M+ a year, but they definitely can't be paying someone that much money who can't even close a game.
That's quite a jump from Irving/Tatum/Brown/Hayward are better players to Smart "can't even close a game."
If that's our starting 5 with Smart as the 6th man, that's one hell of a team.
In a close, possession game, need to do offense/defense subbing if you want Marcus on the floor. It's not clear that he is the player that would close a game unless we have a lead.
And I wouldn't pencil him in as a default 6th man either. That could just as easily be the other Marcus on our current roster. Or whomever ends up being signed with the DPE. 6th man used to be a starter-level player who comes off the bench, and I'm not sure Smart fits that definition. In my view, Brown flat beat him out for the starting job. Not close. And if I had another team that he was the starter on, I'd be looking for an upgrade because that team would have gaping holes.
At some point, the game should hopefully slow down for Rozier. If that happens this season, we just flat out don't need to pay Marcus. NBA rosters are top-heavy on salary, which makes it both very difficult and very necessary to keep the salary commitments to role players and backups in check.
Most likely comes back on the QO, or signs a 4 year MLE deal, possibly with an opt out somewhere and maybe a trade kicker. That would be fair. Give him a million dollar championship bonus for fun even.