How does Marcus fit in when he comes back?

[TheSundanceKid]

What did I just read in this thread? So basically because we have 2 good players in our back court we should just trade our highest pick in years and our best defensive player?

Smart might be a poor offensive player but he's also only in his second year in the league! Do you remember Bradley in his second year? His offensive ability was made of back door cuts and the occasional corner 3, now look at him! In 3 years time Smart will have improved every aspect of his game and will be at least challenging for all star status. Ridiculous to give up on him now based on a short stretch of games...

Trade Smart..resign Thomas long term..problem solved

I've been having this conversation with friends recently and my take leans more and more towards trading Marcus.
IT and AB are arguably playing the best basketball of any backcourt in the NBA (outside of Northern California), and both should be considered for the all star game. Turner is giving us the spark that IT once did off the bench.. Yes Smart's defense would be great but between AB, JC and AJ our defense is already stout, and like others already said Turner and Marcus don't mesh well on the court.
Trade Marcus now for a bigger need, and IMO that would be a game changing 3, which is what I think we were lacking vs GS.. Thomas did not have what it takes with the game on the line, we need someone who does.
My ideal move would be Smart, Lee and the Brooklyn pick to Utah for Gordon Hayward but I'm sure that would be debated around here... And more importantly, I doubt Utah would do it.

So we should give up two of our best assets for Gordon Hayward? I'd rather just take my chances thanks. Smart will develop further and the Brooklyn picks will be much more valuable when their position is determined

[jbpats]

What did I just read in this thread? So basically because we have 2 good players in our back court we should just trade our highest pick in years and our best defensive player?

Smart might be a poor offensive player but he's also only in his second year in the league! Do you remember Bradley in his second year? His offensive ability was made of back door cuts and the occasional corner 3, now look at him! In 3 years time Smart will have improved every aspect of his game and will be at least challenging for all star status. Ridiculous to give up on him now based on a short stretch of games...

Trade Smart..resign Thomas long term..problem solved

I've been having this conversation with friends recently and my take leans more and more towards trading Marcus.
IT and AB are arguably playing the best basketball of any backcourt in the NBA (outside of Northern California), and both should be considered for the all star game. Turner is giving us the spark that IT once did off the bench.. Yes Smart's defense would be great but between AB, JC and AJ our defense is already stout, and like others already said Turner and Marcus don't mesh well on the court.
Trade Marcus now for a bigger need, and IMO that would be a game changing 3, which is what I think we were lacking vs GS.. Thomas did not have what it takes with the game on the line, we need someone who does.
My ideal move would be Smart, Lee and the Brooklyn pick to Utah for Gordon Hayward but I'm sure that would be debated around here... And more importantly, I doubt Utah would do it.

So we should give up two of our best assets for Gordon Hayward? I'd rather just take my chances thanks. Smart will develop further and the Brooklyn picks will be much more valuable when their position is determined

Apologies my opinion insulted you so much..
Just my thoughts on how we could fill a bigger need, while at the same time not affecting the current chemistry.

[SHAQATTACK]

Marcus might still be effective off the bench , with Hunter ,Lee, Zeller or Mickey 

[chambers]

Trade Smart..resign Thomas long term..problem solved

I've been having this conversation with friends recently and my take leans more and more towards trading Marcus.
IT and AB are arguably playing the best basketball of any backcourt in the NBA (outside of Northern California), and both should be considered for the all star game. Turner is giving us the spark that IT once did off the bench.. Yes Smart's defense would be great but between AB, JC and AJ our defense is already stout, and like others already said Turner and Marcus don't mesh well on the court.
Trade Marcus now for a bigger need, and IMO that would be a game changing 3, which is what I think we were lacking vs GS.. Thomas did not have what it takes with the game on the line, we need someone who does.
My ideal move would be Smart, Lee and the Brooklyn pick to Utah for Gordon Hayward but I'm sure that would be debated around here... And more importantly, I doubt Utah would do it.

My man, I'm not a fan of Hayward. He's average at best and I can't see him getting much better.
But think about your proposal for him. You're saying we give up Smart and our Brooklyn pick for a guy who isn't even an All Star and probably never will be....

And yes, the Jazz would do that trade 100 times out of 100.

Anyway, hope that doesn't come across as rude/snarky because I like your forward thinking and how to make us better with a scorer, but I just don't think we should be giving up that Brooklyn pick unless we are getting an All Star in return- let alone Smart as well.

Smart+Dallas pick+our own pcik for Hayward? I wouldn't do it but that's something I think would be more realistic. Still a lot for a guy who is pretty much a less athletic, more skilled version of Jeff Green.

[ssspence]

This thread is so predictable. Bloggers freak out when it's suggested a guy should come off the bench (oh no!) or maybe even be traded, if the right deal could be struck, in a league where roster turnover is more typical than any other major sport.

There's also the typical 'intangibles are more important than results' posts. Seems like we should just cut-and-paste these threads from previous players but fill "Smart" in the blank where a departed player has been.

I get it -- Marcus is a guy who folks like to identify with. But he's hardly above being a bench player in the NBA at this point, especially considering he's struggled to stay on the court for a team that's playing very good basketball.

He's the third best guard on this team right now. It might actually HELP his development to only be tasked with 22-24 minutes a night.

[kozlodoev]

He's the third best guard on this team right now. It might actually HELP his development to only be tasked with 22-24 minutes a night.

Given his nonexistent offense, there's a legitimate argument to be made about whether he's better than Turner or not. Turner is neither a lights-out offensive player, nor a shutdown defender, but he's definitely the more well-rounded of the two.

[loco_91]

What did I just read in this thread? So basically because we have 2 good players in our back court we should just trade our highest pick in years and our best defensive player?

Smart might be a poor offensive player but he's also only in his second year in the league! Do you remember Bradley in his second year? His offensive ability was made of back door cuts and the occasional corner 3, now look at him! In 3 years time Smart will have improved every aspect of his game and will be at least challenging for all star status. Ridiculous to give up on him now based on a short stretch of games...

Trade Smart..resign Thomas long term..problem solved

I've been having this conversation with friends recently and my take leans more and more towards trading Marcus.
IT and AB are arguably playing the best basketball of any backcourt in the NBA (outside of Northern California), and both should be considered for the all star game. Turner is giving us the spark that IT once did off the bench.. Yes Smart's defense would be great but between AB, JC and AJ our defense is already stout, and like others already said Turner and Marcus don't mesh well on the court.
Trade Marcus now for a bigger need, and IMO that would be a game changing 3, which is what I think we were lacking vs GS.. Thomas did not have what it takes with the game on the line, we need someone who does.
My ideal move would be Smart, Lee and the Brooklyn pick to Utah for Gordon Hayward but I'm sure that would be debated around here... And more importantly, I doubt Utah would do it.

So we should give up two of our best assets for Gordon Hayward? I'd rather just take my chances thanks. Smart will develop further and the Brooklyn picks will be much more valuable when their position is determined

+1

[ssspence]

He's the third best guard on this team right now. It might actually HELP his development to only be tasked with 22-24 minutes a night.

Given his nonexistent offense, there's a legitimate argument to be made about whether he's better than Turner or not. Turner is neither a lights-out offensive player, nor a shutdown defender, but he's definitely the more well-rounded of the two.

Turner always slips my mind as a 'guard'. But at the end of the day, considering Marcus struggles a little with handling and penetrating, he and Even still seems like a pretty good 2nd unit pairing to me.

[kozlodoev]

He's the third best guard on this team right now. It might actually HELP his development to only be tasked with 22-24 minutes a night.

Given his nonexistent offense, there's a legitimate argument to be made about whether he's better than Turner or not. Turner is neither a lights-out offensive player, nor a shutdown defender, but he's definitely the more well-rounded of the two.

Turner always slips my mind as a 'guard'. But at the end of the day, considering Marcus struggles a little with handling and penetrating, he and Even still seems like a pretty good 2nd unit pairing to me.

I'm not sure they're particularly complementary, though. This rotation practically means you've paired up your two best shooters separately from your two best ball handlers. Whichever way they swing, though, Thomas has to play 30 minutes.

[littleteapot]

Does anyone think the current chemistry of our team in the last 5 games is more important than getting the best young players on the best contracts we possibly can and developing them for the next several years? That's about as shortsighted as you can get.

[kozlodoev]

Does anyone think the current chemistry of our team in the last 5 games is more important than getting the best young players on the best contracts we possibly can and developing them for the next several years? That's about as shortsighted as you can get.

Oh, of course not. Nothing matters like hypothetical future wins. I mean, we could be the next Philadelphia 76ers!

[wdleehi]

Does anyone think the current chemistry of our team in the last 5 games is more important than getting the best young players on the best contracts we possibly can and developing them for the next several years? That's about as shortsighted as you can get.

Oh, of course not. Nothing matters like hypothetical future wins. I mean, we could be the next Philadelphia 76ers!

Except the Celtics were not playing at that low of a level when Smart was starting.  No where close to it. 

[TheSundanceKid]

What did I just read in this thread? So basically because we have 2 good players in our back court we should just trade our highest pick in years and our best defensive player?

Smart might be a poor offensive player but he's also only in his second year in the league! Do you remember Bradley in his second year? His offensive ability was made of back door cuts and the occasional corner 3, now look at him! In 3 years time Smart will have improved every aspect of his game and will be at least challenging for all star status. Ridiculous to give up on him now based on a short stretch of games...

Trade Smart..resign Thomas long term..problem solved

I've been having this conversation with friends recently and my take leans more and more towards trading Marcus.
IT and AB are arguably playing the best basketball of any backcourt in the NBA (outside of Northern California), and both should be considered for the all star game. Turner is giving us the spark that IT once did off the bench.. Yes Smart's defense would be great but between AB, JC and AJ our defense is already stout, and like others already said Turner and Marcus don't mesh well on the court.
Trade Marcus now for a bigger need, and IMO that would be a game changing 3, which is what I think we were lacking vs GS.. Thomas did not have what it takes with the game on the line, we need someone who does.
My ideal move would be Smart, Lee and the Brooklyn pick to Utah for Gordon Hayward but I'm sure that would be debated around here... And more importantly, I doubt Utah would do it.

So we should give up two of our best assets for Gordon Hayward? I'd rather just take my chances thanks. Smart will develop further and the Brooklyn picks will be much more valuable when their position is determined

Apologies my opinion insulted you so much..
Just my thoughts on how we could fill a bigger need, while at the same time not affecting the current chemistry.

Sorry I didn't mean to get at you. I think trading Smart would certainly affect our chemistry, it's only year 2 but he already seems to be emerging as a leader on this team.
I get that Hayward is a good player and he used to be with Stevens at Butler but he's not that elite star that we are missing. Smart has a chance to be that player, but even more so the Brooklyn picks when all is said and done should have netted us that player, whether established or through the draft.
To give up on that for an incremental improvement this year, when we are most definitely still in build mode, I believe to be unwise.

[littleteapot]

Does anyone think the current chemistry of our team in the last 5 games is more important than getting the best young players on the best contracts we possibly can and developing them for the next several years? That's about as shortsighted as you can get.

Oh, of course not. Nothing matters like hypothetical future wins. I mean, we could be the next Philadelphia 76ers!

Not sure what the sarcasm you're going for here is, but the 6ers got great talents and did a bad job of developing them. We're actually doing a good job of developing our talents and you guys are trying to trade away guys because we're upsetting the chemistry we've established through the first 1/4 of this season. We should only trade young players if we're getting an asset upgrade, not to resolve a chemistry issue that we don't even know exists.

[kozlodoev]

Except the Celtics were not playing at that low of a level when Smart was starting.  No where close to it.

And there is also no indication that handing him back his starting job on a platter will do anything that radical for his development. We can do this until the cows come home.