Is it time to give Smart the keys to the team as our long term point guard?

[ScoobyDoo]

Trust me, I know this is a provocative statement given the lightning rod nature of Marcus Smart within the Boston faithful - but stay with me for a minute on this.

I've always felt the best, highest version of Marcus Smart would be kind of like DJ:

* A big, tough defensive guard
* Not the greatest shooter but can hit "enough" shots when needed, when it swings to him and when he's open
* Not the best passer, but a good fundamental passer

In addition to the above mentioned qualities, here are the other reasons I like it:

* Tatum is kind of an introvert. He leads by his play and production, but he is not outwardly emotive and he is not a "rah rah" level guy like so many championship teams have - guys that inspire the troops.

* Jaylen Brown is a super bright intellectual guy and player. But again, like Tatum he leads with his play and production but he is not a very emotive guy on the court. He's a vocal leader because of his high intelligence and passion on social matters but he's a bit of an introvert as well on the court.

Who on this team is our KG, Draymond, Kobe, Jordan, Bird, Dwayne Wade, LeBron, Rondo - the guy who's the chippy, no back down emotional engine of the team.? It's probably Marcus Smart.

So I'm suggesting this, in the soon to be post Kemba Celtics world:

Option #1, if Fournier proves to be a really good fit, Gordon Hayward type fit next to Tatum and Brown:

Time Lord
Tatum
Brown
Fournier
Smart

Advantages:
* Smart will never get hosed on D in the playoffs when teams head hunt smaller players like Kemba relentlessly
* He adds about as much toughness at the head of your D as you can ask for  - he sets the tone for the team, he is the defensive quarterback - like KG. Robert Williams is the back line defense at the rim and in the middle. Sandwiched between these two guys you have a ton of offensive firepower.

Id' say as a coach - you tell Smart to do three things:

* Take the leadership responsibility, very vocally, along with Tatum and Brown to not only hold each other accountable but to lead, lift and inspire the rest of the team.
* His job is to quarterback the D, take good shots when they come to him but largely facilitate getting lobs for Time Lord and great shots for Tatum, Brown and Founier / Kemba....

What better long term point guard prospect do we have? But that's not the only reason I like this option - I actually think that in today's NBA you don't have to have the traditional drive and dish point. You need a guy who can hit shots when they come to him and not get killed defensively on switches come playoff time. Lastly, the ball needs to be in Tatum and Brown's hands on the offensive side of the ball as much as possible.

The majority of shot creation/playmaking rests in Tatum, Brown, Kemba (for now) Fournier and Smart's hands.

As far as general team construction moving forward and assuming Smart is the long term point with Pritchard and another vet backing him up, I'd either:

1. Commit to Fournier long term if he proves to be a great fit with Tatum and Brown. I'd then focus my mid level dollars, or a few young players via trade to secure a really solid, young PF for when I wanted to go bigger with Tatum and Brown at the 2 and 3 spots

or

2. If Fourneir isn't the longer term piece because I want to go bigger with a true PF and Tatum and Brown at the 2 and 3 spots, I'd consider signing Fournier and then eventually trading him, along with other young players and future draft picks to try and land a "very legitimate" young PF like John Collins if he becomes available. In this scenario, I'd be trying to put together:

Time Lord
Collins (or young meaningful and equivalent PF who can shoot from the outside)
Tatum
Brown
Smart

I'd give up a a lot to put that lineup together - or one similar to it.       

But back to the main point - I like Smart as our long term point guard and spiritual or emotional leader, somebody has to play that role. Most great teams have a yard barker like Smart somewhere in their starting lineup. They're not perfect but their passion and emotional fire plays a very important role.

Thoughts?     
     

[JBcat]

I like it, and it would be difficult otherwise to find a younger Walker replacement unless Pritchard takes the unlikely huge leap in his game.

The elephant in the room is if Kemba is around the next couple years would he be ok with being a 6th man like the Lou Williams role. 

Last season when the trio Hayward, Tatum, and Brown played together our offense was elite, so I really like the idea of a Hayward like player in Fournier starting alongside Tatum and Brown. 

[gouki88]

DJ was a better scoring threat and passer than Smart, and that also worked because we had the best passing forward ever, a strong secondary playmaker in Ainge and a few good passing big-men.

I don’t like Smart as the lone ball-handler because his dribble penetration is flat out not there. We are stuck in that dreadful 5 out motionless offence when he’s the only PG

[ChillyWilly]

I threw up in my mouth a little bit but I swallowed it for the effort put forth in forming your opinion.

[Roy H.]

The thing about DJ was that he was a star scorer who willingly took fewer shots and touches.  Can Smart do that?

[nickagneta]

Scooby, have you watched Smart over the last six years? If there is anything consistent in Smart's decision making it's that it's radically inconsistent. His decision making in passing and when to shoot is terrible for long stretches and good for some stretches.

His last 6 games have been great, but he also has had awful stretches this year as well. IMO, Smart is not someone you give the keys to the car. You want The Jays having the ball. You want them to learn to make others better. Unfortunately, that means living with their growing pains, in this regard, until they figure things out. Not having consistent lineups and player availability has hindered that growth for The Jays, but in time, maybe next year, they will and should be the main ball handlers.

[Csfan1984]

Before Kemba I said stick with Smart, #juststartsmart. I wanted to sign Randle.

I'm ready to go to Smart but only after the team deals Kemba
.

[KG Living Legend]

Scooby, have you watched Smart over the last six years? If there is anything consistent in Smart's decision making it's that it's radically inconsistent. His decision making in passing and when to shoot is terrible for long stretches and good for some stretches.

His last 6 games have been great, but he also has had awful stretches this year as well. IMO, Smart is not someone you give the keys to the car. You want The Jays having the ball. You want them to learn to make others better. Unfortunately, that means living with their growing pains, in this regard, until they figure things out. Not having consistent lineups and player availability has hindered that growth for The Jays, but in time, maybe next year, they will and should be the main ball handlers.

 Definitely agree with Nick. Here in my car, I feel safest of all. As long as Smart isn't driving.

[KG Living Legend]

Scooby, have you watched Smart over the last six years? If there is anything consistent in Smart's decision making it's that it's radically inconsistent. His decision making in passing and when to shoot is terrible for long stretches and good for some stretches.

His last 6 games have been great, but he also has had awful stretches this year as well. IMO, Smart is not someone you give the keys to the car. You want The Jays having the ball. You want them to learn to make others better. Unfortunately, that means living with their growing pains, in this regard, until they figure things out. Not having consistent lineups and player availability has hindered that growth for The Jays, but in time, maybe next year, they will and should be the main ball handlers.

 Definitely agree with Nick. Here in my car, I feel safest of all. As long as Smart isn't driving.

[colincb]

Don't think the comparison between DJ and Smart is a good one for a lot of reasons.

Number 1 reason would have been the clutch gene.

[LilRip]

While I agree with the sentiment of the post, Smart isn’t the guy. Smart is passionate but also ends up putting himself and his own emotions above the team, particularly when he gets triggered (bad call, cheap shot, etc.) and it manifests in stuff like overly aggressive defense, quick shots, flops to try draw fouls, etc. This is pretty much the opposite of what the team needs from its leader. If anything, that leader needs to rein in Smart.

You bring up a great list of names of mentally tough and/or fiery guys but the name I disagree with is Draymond. Dray is like Smart and if he was the main voice in that locker, that team would be as erratic as him. Fortunately for the dubs, they have their real on-court leader in Steph who is as brash, as confident, and as disrespectful as they come.

So either a trade has to happen and we get our leader (like Beal for example) or Tatum needs to grow up and ironically, start acting more like Kobe.

EDIT: just to add, we had a player like that in IT4. Smart fell in line behind IT4 and the team had an identity of being tough and playing like underdogs who never gave up.

[Who]

I see Smart as similar to an old Dennis Johnson but the league isn't. Smart would have been much more successful as a starting PG in the 80s while DJ would not have been as successful today as an older player playing PG as he was in the 80s. The league has changed too much.

It is too hard to play Smart at PG without a ball-handling wing who can run the offense like Doncic, Harden or LeBron. Smart simply does not offer enough quickness & dribble penetration to break the first line of a team's defense. That is before we get to his limited scoring ability.

When Smart plays PG next to middling playmaking wings, the offense becomes stagnant with everything happening in front of a set defense. 5 guys between the basket and the ball. One C's player trying to play hero ball and the C's offense going down the toilet. They can't win playing that type of basketball.

Payton Pritchard is the one who has the chance to unseat Kemba as the team's starting PG. Not Marcus Smart. Pritchard needs to offer some more dribble penetration but I feel he can give us some of that next year with some more growth. And unlike Smart, Pritchard is a high level shooter / efficiency player with good decision making capabilities who doesn't try to do things that are outside his wheelhouse.

[gouki88]

I see Smart as similar to an old Dennis Johnson but the league isn't. Smart would have been much more successful as a starting PG in the 80s while DJ would not have been as successful today as an older player playing PG as he was in the 80s. The league has changed too much.

It is too hard to play Smart at PG without a ball-handling wing who can run the offense like Doncic, Harden or LeBron. Smart simply does not offer enough quickness & dribble penetration to break the first line of a team's defense. That is before we get to his limited scoring ability.

When Smart plays PG next to middling playmaking wings, the offense becomes stagnant with everything happening in front of a set defense. 5 guys between the basket and the ball. One C's player trying to play hero ball and the C's offense going down the toilet. They can't win playing that type of basketball.

Payton Pritchard is the one who has the chance to unseat Kemba as the team's starting PG. Not Marcus Smart. Pritchard needs to offer some more dribble penetration but I feel he can give us some of that next year with some more growth. And unlike Smart, Pritchard is a high level shooter / efficiency player with good decision making capabilities who doesn't try to do things that are outside his wheelhouse.

This is the way I see it playing out. I really want Pritchard to be the starting PG next year - I think he could be a top 15 PG in the comp sooner rather than later. His efficiency, movement with and without the ball, and ability to spread the floor for our two stars is great

[bopna]

Develop Pritchard as he can be a reliable PG in 2 yrs...
Will we be able to re sign MS?...probably or if not im good with Pritchard.

Kemba just doesnt do it for me...so erratic and has been consistent with with his 2 for 9 3pfg per game...i mean for 10m yes but he is a freakin max guy.

[td450]

The DJ comparison is tough because DJ was a hall of famer, he was a considerably more talented scorer than Marcus, and his best skill is Marcus's biggest weakness: he had amazing judgement under pressure, and just didn't take bad shots.

So that does beg the question: what to do with him? Can Marcus be a starter or at least play 25 minutes for a champion, or can't he? I'm absolutely convinced that Kemba has to go, but does Marcus have to go too?

Or, do you need to find the right guard to play him with? If so, how hard is that going to be? Could it be Langford, or does it have to be someone with more advanced playmaking chops? Is it still possible for this team to get a bigger guard with skills like Tyrese Haliburton for Smart to play with? It's not likely. Most of those bullets have been fired.

I think the team really blew it not moving on from Smart and getting Gordon. I expect that will be obvious during today's game.

I truly hope the team makes up its mind in this coming offseason. If we keep Marcus, its because we have the guys to make it work with him on the court. That can't be Kemba.