Marcus Smart comparison to Dwade

[freshinthehouse]

Somewhat off topic, but I get the feeling that after Wade retires he is going to be one of the more underrated stars in the history of the NBA.

[GetLucky]

Somewhat off topic, but I get the feeling that after Wade retires he is going to be one of the more underrated stars in the history of the NBA.

True. He was overshadowed in between the MJ and Kobe/Shaq/Spurs and now LeBron/Durant dynasties. He was never the best player in the NBA, nor was he ever in the discussion. He was just consistently very good. Credit to him, but I don't respect him very much, especially with the Rondo elbow. That series still stings.

[Tr1boy]

Again not sure about the James Harden comparison.  But I think Harden is glad he won't be playing Smart any time soon.  Excellent defense by Smart.  Never thought it would be actually fun to watch defense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmjli8hakJY

Wow! This is great. I admittedly haven't caught too many Celtics games this year, but from what I have seen Smart has been solid. These "defensive highlight" videos usually don't end up being highlights, but that was two and a half minutes of great defense- effort-wise, technique-wise, and cheat-just-enough-when-no-one's-looking wise.

I was a big proponent of the Smart/DWade comparison when he got drafted, especially based on his percentages and scouting reports (all drive and bully-ball). However, like everyone already pointed out, Smart's NBA game, so far, is much more perimeter-oriented. I'm frankly quite impressed, as he's already a better three-point shooter than Wade. If Marcus developed those little bank-shot runners a la Wade or Nash, I can only imagine how good he'd be.

I think he is going to come in next season even in better shape.  We lucked out having Smart drop to 6. 

[sofutomygaha]

Way way off. He's more like Deron Williams than Wade.

I don't hate NBA Draftnet like some, but they seem to get carried away with some ideas. Remember when every single mock draft had Aaron Gordon in the top 10, but NBA Draftnet had him like 25th? They stubbornly stuck with Gordon not being in the top 10 almost until the end IIRC.

Really don't see the Deron Williams comparison.

Deron was always a pure PG - an elite passer and ball handler who could also score and defend.  He was always a pretty solid shooter too.

Wade was a true combo guard who could play either PG or SG equally well, but he never had elite handles or an elite jump shot.  He did have unusually impressive size and strength for a PG, and elite defensive skills.  Obviously Wade was a far more capable scorer as a rookie then Smart is right now, but aside from the scoring side of things I think Wade is a very close comparison.

Deron Williams was not an elite passer his rookie year, and Marcus Smart will not be an elite defender when he reaches his prime. There is a life cycle to these things.

When Deron was a rookie, he was considered an ace outside shooter, a strong defender, and a bully with the ball. His famous crossover and passing skills came later.

Wade, on the other hand, was a super duper slasher even when he was a rookie. He bore no resemblance to Smart in my opinion.

[crimson_stallion]

Somewhat off topic, but I get the feeling that after Wade retires he is going to be one of the more underrated stars in the history of the NBA.

I absolutely agree - I think he is one of the most underrated stars of the past decade.

The unfortunate thing for Wade is that he was always overshadowed by more POPULAR (but not necessarily better) players. 

For example when Wade first entered the league, he came via a draft that also included Carmello Anthony and Lebron James - Wade was really an afterthought in that draft.

Through his rookie season, LeBron and Carmello put up better numbers - again Wade was in their shadows.

Through his prime seasons, he was unlucky enough to be overshadowed by Lebron James and Kobe Bryant - probably two of the most 'media hyped' players of the past two generations.  But at his best, wade was as good as either of those guys. 

In 2008/09 Wade averaged 30.2 points, 5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks - those are ridiculous numbers, especially when you considering how incredibly a defensive player he was at the time - IMO he was a better defender than both Lebron and Kobe at that point in his career. 

But the key difference to me with Wade vs Lebron was the mentality.  Lebron was really an incredibly immature player up until the end of his second season in Miami - at that point in time he finally started to develop a winner's mentality.  Before that he always seemed to play on cruise control, Jeff Green style, with no real emotional 'fire' in his game.  Wade had the mentality of a leader and a warrior every since his Sophomore season, which is the reason why he was able to lead Miami to a title at such a young age.  Shaq himself conceded that the Miami championship teams was Wade's team, and that Shaq was the #2 guy.  This because perfectly clear by the way Wade dominated the Mavericks in the NBA finals - he carried that team, almost single handedly taking that title.
 
Even when Lebron came over to Miami, it seemed it was always Wade hitting the big shots, getting the big stops, and taking on the leadership role...while Lebron stuffed the stat sheets, posed for the cameras and made famous one-liners.  It wasn't until Wade's body started breaking down with injuries that Lebron finally took over as leader of that Heat franchise.

As a Celtic I hated Wade, probably in the same way as the Heat fans hated KG.  His intensity makes him the type of player you love (if he's on your team) or hate (if he's the opponent). 

End of the day though, you can't argue with his career stats (24 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks, 49% FG)  which well and truly cement his place as one of the greatest SG's to ever play the game. 

[rondohondo]

Smart is like Chauncey Billups/ Sam Cassell . If he can become a 35% 3pt shooter , and get a mid range game like cassell had , he will be a 18 ppg scorer, 7 asts , 2 stl in the next few years .

[freshinthehouse]

This is a bit of a stretch, but Wade reminds of Rick Barry in the way that he is overrated.  Both players put up big numbers over a long stretch of time, and both had their career-defining moment (Wade in 06, Barry in 75) in NBA Finals that no one really paid attention to.