You are the Future of this team, had a pretty good rookie year---and Danny drafts 2 Point Guards....What's going on Danny-?
Everybody knows that Danny ALWAYS drafts the best talent available.
All the guys he went for this year were guys who appeared to have a lot of upside - all guys with great length for their positions. Three out of the four guys are excellent-to-elite athletes with the fourth being a solid athlete. All four guys have some form of potential on both ends of the floor, so they all have a shot at being solid two-way players.
Danny's in win-now mode, but by the time he got to pick he knew that all the "win now" players were long gone, so he's taken gambles on four guys who have great upside.
Also the Rozier pick is less a threat to Smart and more to Bradley, I think. Smart and Rozier are actually very different players. The only things they really have in common is that:
* Both have a high work ethic/big motor
* Both are known for great defence
* Both neither is an exceptional three point shooter
Aside from that couldn't really find two players who are much more different.
Smart relies on power and size to beat his opponent, while Rozier relies on his elite athleticism and ball handling to blow past guys.
Smart never really was a very confident jump shooter and always had questionable form. Rozier is a very willing shooter and actually not a bad one, he just takes a lot of shots in a team that had very few scorers, which naturally pushes down his percentages. He's by no means an outstanding shooter, but he's not a bad one.
Smart was also always a guy who was said to have pretty good court feel - good basketball IQ, solid court vision, etc. He never got huge assists numbers, but was always a reasonable passer. Rozier is less of a passer and much more of a scoring guard who can also defend.
Smart was always questioned for his ball handling, while Rozier is an excellent ball handler.
Smart has great size for an NBA guard (even good size for a SG) while Rozier really has a PG's body.
There are a lot of things about these guys that are quite different, and I actually think Rozier's a bit more likely Bradley as a player (similar size, similar wingspan, similar athleticism, etc) except that Rozier is a better ball handler, better at creating his own offense and is physically stronger. Other than that I don't think there's anything Bradley did better when he was coming out of College than Rozier does now.
Plus not that Bass is a FA, Bradley is (along with Wallace) really the only guy on the team with a significant sized contract. If Ainge wants to either trade (or clear space) for the acquisition of a max salary player, then Wallace+Bradley equals about $17m in salary and would be a perfect match. Smart is on a rookie contract - not that useful as Salary filler, and more valuable to Danny.
Topic: If you're Marcus Smart, How are you feeling right now? (Read 1501 times)