It's amazing to me that in the year of our lord 2020 after watching 6 seasons of Marcus Smart we still have to have debates about whether he makes a difference to winning.
This is one topic on which I am firmly in the "come at me with whatever numbers you want, Smart is my guy, the end" camp.
We can have debates about his shot selection or whether an elite defensive guard can actually make that big of a difference, etc etc. We've had all these arguments before.
Smart's my guy, I think if the Celts win a title anytime soon he'll be a part of it. Trading him for anything less than an absolute home run lopsided trade would be a mistake.
I know Smart is a guy I want on the floor at the end of a close elimination game -- remember that block against Toronto, anyone, or have you already forgotten? I have no idea if Wiseman, or whoever else would be there at #2, will ever be that.
If the Celts were rebuilding and this was all about taking shots on talent, fine. You trade an elite role player for a roll of the dice, that makes sense.
That is not the situation. The Celtics have the ingredients to contend already. Right now it's about finding the right mix of guys to support the top of the roster. Trading Smart to accomplish that seems to me like a wrestler cutting off his foot to drop weight.