We all know what Smart means to winning. Cs lowballed him. You have to bet on yourself. Shroeder is an isolated case. How many players are in his predicament.
Oladipo, for one...and he blew it even more than Schroder. Yet, nobody is talking about it. Smart should take this deal - it's a decent pay bump and the Cs did right by him last negotiation.
His last contract paid 12 a year….scrubs like Rozier and Biyambo were pulling down 18-20.
1. I'm pretty sure Rozier only got that money because of the Kemba Walker situation
2. It was always blatantly obvious that Rozier's ceiling was much higher then Smart's, so I'm sure some of his pay would have been based on expected upside
3. Smart is currently a LOT better then Smart
If I were an NBA GM there is no way in hell I would pay a guy like Smart (limited skillset, low upside, difficult to coach, highly volatile play style). Frankly, if he wanted any more then about $14M-$15M a year I would happily let him walk and try to get it elsewhere.
Given the choice between Rozier and Smart, I'd take Rozier all day every day...and I wouldn't need to think about it.
Yeah if pay to keep rozier out of this team. Remeber the interview where he threw the team under the bus? Coz i certainly do. Smart has a higher off rtg and drtg while also having higher ast pct in a lower usg. These are stuff you want when you have guys like tatum and brown on your team.
The way Rozier responded was poor, I won't deny that. But putting myself in his shoes It's not hard to empathise with his position.
Rozier worked his butt off for years while he was here. His work ethic was always high, he never played with anything less than 100% energy. Brad gushed about his work ethic from day one, and it was one of the key reasons why he drafted him. He put in the work for years and made major improvements to his game (something Smart has never done) and when he was given opportunities to play in big moments he excelled. He even played a key role in helping to lead the team to the ECF when Kyrie was lost to injury. He regularly made big time plays in the clutch on both ends of the court. He showed pretty strong evidence that he had the upside and was willing to put in the work to achieve it.
Yet the team continued to bury him on the bench year after year, constantly treating him like the least important guy on the depth chart. Then when it came to his contract year the team was bad, the lockeroom appeared to be a cancerous mess, the players above him in the depth chart weren't pulling their weight, and yet still he was left to decay away on the bench, not getting the opportunity to truly shine and show what he could do.
Up until that final season Rozier was the ultimate team player. He gave 100% effort 100% of the time, he always spoke respectfully about the team and his teammates, and he always expressed a complete willingness to play any role that was asked of him at any time. He was young, was a vocal guy with a chip on his shoulder, he probably been holding in years of frustration. I think that final year was just "the straw that broke the camels back", and hew was just past the point of caring anymore. When the time came he just spoke his mind honestly and said it how it was. Again, I'm not going to try to claim that handled things well, but I can very much empathise with his position and frankly. I don't really blame him.
He always knew the player he COULD be if given the chance, but Brad and Danny never gave him that chance. Since moving to a starting role in Charlotte he's averaged 19.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.2 APG on 43.8% / 39.6% / 84.4% shooting (which is a hell of a lot better then Smart's overall stat line). Last season he had a higher WS/48 then Marcus Smart while also finishing 6th among all NBA SG in Real Plus Minus (Smart finished 22nd at the PG spot) and the Hornets - with Rozier as arguably their best player - only finished below Boston in the standings because of tie-breakers.
I don't think there is even a question about which of the two players is better right now. One could argue that Rozier is playing like a borderline All-Star, meanwhile Smart has never looked like any more then a fringe starter.
Topic: About Smart’s Extension Offer... (Read 6726 times)