So, is this why Smart was traded? from Adam Himmelsbach

[cman88]

lost in the article about Browns supermax and Grant leaving was this little quote.

“There was a sense within the organization that stars Jayson Tatum and Brown sometimes deferred to Smart in big moments, and that his departure now leaves no question about who should be guiding this team.”

https://twitter.com/adamhimmelsbach/status/1677004595623493655?s=46

I mentioned this when smart was traded. I will miss smart and what he brings. But smart was a big voice in that locker-room due to his tenure and being there before brown/tatum. I do think White may play his "role" better because he understands where he fits more. There is a set hierarchy now.

nothing against smart. But there were times I think he played outside his role and Tatum/Brown deferred.

[footey]

lost in the article about Browns supermax and Grant leaving was this little quote.

“There was a sense within the organization that stars Jayson Tatum and Brown sometimes deferred to Smart in big moments, and that his departure now leaves no question about who should be guiding this team.”

https://twitter.com/adamhimmelsbach/status/1677004595623493655?s=46

I mentioned this when smart was traded. I will miss smart and what he brings. But smart was a big voice in that locker-room due to his tenure and being there before brown/tatum. I do think White may play his "role" better because he understands where he fits more. There is a set hierarchy now.

nothing against smart. But there were times I think he played outside his role and Tatum/Brown deferred.

Yeah, read that.  Just don't buy that Tatum and Brown have the personality to step up.  Every Pierce needs a Garnett.  Smart talent level didn't quite make it work, but he had the right attitude.

Who is this team's alpha?

Other great Celtic teams all had that one alpha:

Russell (more by action than words, but perhaps the most competitive professional athlete of all time, including Jordan)
Cowens
Bird
Garnett

Who is our alpha?

[SHAQATTACK]

lost in the article about Browns supermax and Grant leaving was this little quote.

“There was a sense within the organization that stars Jayson Tatum and Brown sometimes deferred to Smart in big moments, and that his departure now leaves no question about who should be guiding this team.”

https://twitter.com/adamhimmelsbach/status/1677004595623493655?s=46

I mentioned this when smart was traded. I will miss smart and what he brings. But smart was a big voice in that locker-room due to his tenure and being there before brown/tatum. I do think White may play his "role" better because he understands where he fits more. There is a set hierarchy now.

nothing against smart. But there were times I think he played outside his role and Tatum/Brown deferred.

Looking from outside in , can’t say , but makes some sense. You look for the open man , but that is not always the best shot.   ???Teams would leave Marcus wide open daring him to win a game going with odds . I always hated this role  Smart had to play , it was demoralizing as fan to watch .  You knew he was wide open , odds are with the defense .

[celticinorlando]

lost in the article about Browns supermax and Grant leaving was this little quote.

“There was a sense within the organization that stars Jayson Tatum and Brown sometimes deferred to Smart in big moments, and that his departure now leaves no question about who should be guiding this team.”

https://twitter.com/adamhimmelsbach/status/1677004595623493655?s=46

I mentioned this when smart was traded. I will miss smart and what he brings. But smart was a big voice in that locker-room due to his tenure and being there before brown/tatum. I do think White may play his "role" better because he understands where he fits more. There is a set hierarchy now.

nothing against smart. But there were times I think he played outside his role and Tatum/Brown deferred.

Looking from outside in , can’t say , but makes some sense. You look for the open man , but that is not always the best shot.   ???Teams would leave Marcus wide open daring him to win a game going with odds . I always hated this role  Smart had to play , it was demoralizing as fan to watch .  You knew he was wide open , odds are with the defense .

I think off the court Smart was the loudest voice in the room so JT and JB deferred to him. This stunted their leadership growth.

On the court he was open because every team doubled off of him and onto Tatum. He had to take those shots unfortunately.

Now with KP out there...that is going to be hard. Moving smart in the long run is addition by subtraction.

[PAOBoston]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Truthfully, I think we listened to offers for multiple seasons, but felt like we could improve the team working around the fringes, which Brad Stevens did do.

If the Brogdon deal didn't fall apart, Smart might still be on the team, but I think the team needed to reset a bit. Trading him for a fringe all-star big in his prime and two firsts was a great deal.

I think we traded him at the right time. I don't doubt he will want to prove something this year, but I also think his effectiveness will continue to dwindle.

[SparzWizard]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

No, this team officially belongs to Jayson Tatum.

[celticinorlando]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

No, this team officially belongs to Jayson Tatum.

Exactly. And he needs to act as such. He needs to be the leader and everyone else gets in line.

[Vermont Green]

I don't buy it.  I see this as a manufactured narrative.  Remember that Plan A was to trade Brogdon.  They only traded Smart after Plan A fell though.

[keevsnick]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

No, this team officially belongs to Jayson Tatum.

Exactly. And he needs to act as such. He needs to be the leader and everyone else gets in line.

My hot take: The team doesn't "belong" to anybody. Its a team.

I find narratives like this soooooo lame. Stuff like this is used, retroctively, as a reason a team loses but I'm skeptical it has any real actual on court value.

Did the Celtics lose because it was Smart's team? Or because Caleb Martin had an out of body experience for 7 games?

Hint: The second thing.

[Roy H.]

I think the reason Smart was traded is because the team wanted to trade for KP, and the Brogdon trade fell apart.

Now, there's a chance that the team was interested in doing two separate swaps:  Brogdon + Gallo for Porzingis, and Smart for Jones + two #1s.  If that proves to be the case, the "a different voice" argument may end up making some sense.  However, even then I'd argue it would have been about saving money (and potentially keeping Grant?) than not wanting Smart on the team.

This would have been an interesting team:

Timelord / Horford / Kornet
KP / Grant / Muscala?
Tatum / Hauser / Brissett
Brown / White / Walsh
Jones / Pritchard / Banton

Ultimately, though, I'm still glad we have Brogdon.

[Kernewek]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

No, this team officially belongs to Jayson Tatum.

Exactly. And he needs to act as such. He needs to be the leader and everyone else gets in line.

My hot take: The team doesn't "belong" to anybody. Its a team.

I find narratives like this soooooo lame. Stuff like this is used, retroctively, as a reason a team loses but I'm skeptical it has any real actual on court value.

Did the Celtics lose because it was Smart's team? Or because Caleb Martin had an out of body experience for 7 games?

Hint: The second thing.

I think you're right that the narratives are massively overblown, especially in the offseason (because the content, like the spice, must flow) but I wouldn't necessarily say it has zero on-the-court value.

Even if you're not a team sports person, most project-oriented workplaces have something of a similar dynamic - changing an editor, a project lead, a head of, an assistant, a foreman... all of these positions have impact on how your team works together to do the job, and swapping people out can dramatically improve (or crater) the results.

[CelticsWhat35]

I think it had less to do with the Jays deferring and more to do with an easily manipulated offensive system in which the opponent forced the ball out of the Jays’ (namely Tatum’s) hands by doubling off Smart and Marcus was more than willing to take the shot…which is what the opponent always wanted.

Smart did seem to have this idea that it was a “big 3”.  I’m not trying to take away from his importance to the team, but I think Joe deferred to him more than the Jays did.  I also think his departure is going to help DW more than anything else.

[RodyTur10]

Would think this would be a pretty obvious reason. This team officially belongs to the Jays now.

No, this team officially belongs to Jayson Tatum.

Indeed. Brown must defer to Tatum as well.
Brown needs to be aware he's "just" one of the guys.

[liam]

I thought he was traded because he was maddeningly inconsistent which made the team maddeningly inconsistent. Who will teams leave wide open at the end of games now?