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

[Who]

I don't think Smart did anything wrong leadership wise. He did his role. The problem was that Tatum & Jaylen didn't step up and fulfill their roles.

Now, in that situation it is perfectly fine to trade the guy who was doing his role well in order to try and force your young stars to grow up / mature into the leaders the team needs them to be.

Bottom line. Smart did his role. He was not a problem. It was the Jays who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

[RJ87]

I don't think Smart did anything wrong leadership wise. He did his role. The problem was that Tatum & Jaylen didn't step up and fulfill their roles.

Now, in that situation it is perfectly fine to trade the guy who was doing his role well in order to try and force your young stars to grow up / mature into the leaders the team needs them to be.

Bottom line. Smart did his role. He was not a problem. It was the Jays who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

Hmmm.

We're going to agree to disagree about Smart. Was he a good energy guy or an actual leader? So many here have questioned this team's "heart" over the past 2 season and then turn around and proclaim Smart as the heart and soul of the team. That disconnect has never been lost on me.

I know he's gone now, so a lot of his flaws will fade in obscurity. He was a guy who could draw a momentum changing charge or dive to save a ball from going out of bounds saving a possession, and then give it right back by chucking up a 3 with 16 seconds left on the clock or by trying a fancy behind the back pass when the simple one was there all along.

Towards the end, I think he was too comfortable in a leadership role I don't think he performed quite well. That whole "we good, we beat y'all last year" during the game while we were down to the Heat was it for me. His version of "leadership" ran far beyond its course.

[CelticSooner]

I don't think Smart did anything wrong leadership wise. He did his role. The problem was that Tatum & Jaylen didn't step up and fulfill their roles.

Now, in that situation it is perfectly fine to trade the guy who was doing his role well in order to try and force your young stars to grow up / mature into the leaders the team needs them to be.

Bottom line. Smart did his role. He was not a problem. It was the Jays who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

Didn't Udoka ask them to be the captain yet neither guy cared to do it?

[wiley]

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.

Thank you.  The above notion is for fan who like to think hierrarchically as it is more entertaining that way somehow to have a so called alpha leader of the pack.

On a lighter note, I realize it's how some fans like to refer to the best player of the team...(but it makes me gag personally.)

One reason I hate it is that the media buy into the same narrative and it seeps into the player's consciousness and kills high IQ basketball at the end of games. 

A confident player who wants the ball in crunch time is fine.... but hero ball to the detriment of team play usually fails.

[Kuberski33]

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.

Given that Jaylen has been prone to standing outside the 3 pt stripe as the 4th option at times, I would agree. But I also think there's something to the thinking that removing Smart will help both of them in that regard.  Personally I think teams preferred to let Smart shoot it so that was usually an available option.

[PAOBoston]

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.

I would tend to agree with you on that point. My overall point is if there was ever any questions regarding pecking order, it now belongs to your top two players JT and JB.

[86MaxwellSmart]

All those times with beautiful ball movement....Only to end up with Smart taking the Wide Open BRICK 3 pointer must have finally gotten to the Font Office, so yeah, I'm glad he's gone--would rather have KP taking those shots now.

[BudweiserCeltic]

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.

No. Brad wanted Porzi and he wanted to slim down the guard rotation. The Brogdon trade didn't work out, he found a market for Smart. There's no need to read much more than that.

[tenn_smoothie]

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?

Well said.

We don't have an alpha, it just ain't in Tatum, he is not that type of person. Brown is willing to step up - and that's the problem - when he tries to take over and lead the team, he plays outside himself, self-destructs in a flurry of turnovers and bad shots and kills the team in the process.

[Big333223]

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?

Well said.

We don't have an alpha, it just ain't in Tatum, he is not that type of person. Brown is willing to step up - and that's the problem - when he tries to take over and lead the team, he plays outside himself, self-destructs in a flurry of turnovers and bad shots and kills the team in the process.

I'm old enough to remember people saying the same thing about Lebron before he started winning championships. Steph, KD, the same.

Tatum just turned 25 years old. He's not done growing as a person by a long shot.

While I don't think this is the reason Smart was traded I do think a consequence of trading Smart is that there is a leadership vacuum that will be filled by someone. My bet is that it'll be filled by Tatum. If Smart being traded opens up the room for Tatum to become the leader he needs to become (and I think he can) then it'll work out great.

[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.

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?

Well said.

We don't have an alpha, it just ain't in Tatum, he is not that type of person. Brown is willing to step up - and that's the problem - when he tries to take over and lead the team, he plays outside himself, self-destructs in a flurry of turnovers and bad shots and kills the team in the process.

I'm old enough to remember people saying the same thing about Lebron before he started winning championships. Steph, KD, the same.

Tatum just turned 25 years old. He's not done growing as a person by a long shot.

While I don't think this is the reason Smart was traded I do think a consequence of trading Smart is that there is a leadership vacuum that will be filled by someone. My bet is that it'll be filled by Tatum. If Smart being traded opens up the room for Tatum to become the leader he needs to become (and I think he can) then it'll work out great.

I also remember debates on this board about trading Rondo for Steph curry and people being against it. Now it looks laughable.

But people forget most of these guys who have won didn't do so until they reached at least 27.

[boscel33]

I think it's JB.  JB is a vocal leader, but as a prior poster noted, he's got to figure out how not to play above what his limits are, don't try to do too much.  I think JB's ceiling is higher than Pierce, he just has to realize that.  I still have hopes they can get him to play Point Forward like Hayward.

[dannyboy35]

I don't think Smart did anything wrong leadership wise. He did his role. The problem was that Tatum & Jaylen didn't step up and fulfill their roles.

Now, in that situation it is perfectly fine to trade the guy who was doing his role well in order to try and force your young stars to grow up / mature into the leaders the team needs them to be.

Bottom line. Smart did his role. He was not a problem. It was the Jays who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

Hmmm.

We're going to agree to disagree about Smart. Was he a good energy guy or an actual leader? So many here have questioned this team's "heart" over the past 2 season and then turn around and proclaim Smart as the heart and soul of the team. That disconnect has never been lost on me.

I know he's gone now, so a lot of his flaws will fade in obscurity. He was a guy who could draw a momentum changing charge or dive to save a ball from going out of bounds saving a possession, and then give it right back by chucking up a 3 with 16 seconds left on the clock or by trying a fancy behind the back pass when the simple one was there all along.

Towards the end, I think he was too comfortable in a leadership role I don't think he performed quite well. That whole "we good, we beat y'all last year" during the game while we were down to the Heat was it for me. His version of "leadership" ran far beyond its course.

   In my opinion every other player in the roster would have passed the ball right back to white for the open jumper snd he woujdbt have needed to make a one in a million play to force game 7 vs the Heat. I have zero doubt it was discussed in the huddle. The guy who inbounded the ball being most open, potentially? Ya. That was definitely discussed. Smart is the only guy that would hack up that stupid shot instead. Sums up his stay here for me. Things like this will always happen with Marcus. I’m thrilled he’s not wearing Celtic green anymore. Selfish . Good riddance.