Watercooler Talk: +4. Would you rather have? Isaiah at 6'1" or Marcus at 6'8"?

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Most posters here already know my obsession with hoping that our Celtics players would grow a little bit more in their heights. That obsession goes outside CBlog Forums.

So, friends from back home and I are having a really good conversation about this while watching the Celtcis beat the Nuggets, and thought I would bring it here for us guys to have a bit of a little discussion, you know, in case we are bored.

With that said, who would you rather have if they gain 4 more inches?

Isaiah Thomas, making him be listed at 6'1", or Marcus Smart, making him be listed at 6'8"?

Both interesting hypotheticals, but who would you rather have?

[Snakehead]

Smart at 6' 8" would be ridiculously good.  I don't think IT being taller would be nearly as much of a difference maker.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Interesting topic.. I gotta go Marcus here.

Marcus at 6'8 could legitimately guard all 5 positions. His strength, size, length would probably allow us to play him at the 4 pretty regularly. Would take away some of his shooting issues by allowing him to play on the block more. His offensive game would improve as he'd be able to stray away from his weaknesses in the outside and drive/post in a much more effective way. Not to mention, his defense would be absolutely insane no matter who he was guarding.

[Monkhouse]

Interesting, would wonder how good of a scorer IT could be at 6'1, but Smart at 6'8? Are we taking into account his wingspan would be the same, or bigger?

I would take Smart if he was 6'7/6'8, with the adjusted wingspan. Smart plays and reminds me of Draymond Green, I did a player comparison, and their numbers are eerily similar. The crazy thing is I could even suspect that Smart would be able to average over 5 boards a game, simply due to how much hustle and energy he puts forth in trying to board the ball.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I voted Smart as well. At 6'8", he would be an all around menace on defense, capable of defending everyone.

But my friends think Isaiah at 6"1" would not only be a better finisher in the rim, but could also now make a difference on the defensive end as he's not giving a ton of size. An Isaiah Thomas who can defend better than he is right now is close, if not a franchise type player, and the added 4 inches, they say, would be beneficial for his defensive capabilities.

[slamtheking]

Smart at 6' 8" would be ridiculously good.  I don't think IT being taller would be nearly as much of a difference maker.

this.

a taller Smart could guard the 2-3-4 spots and make the opposition's life hell.  that extra height would make him even more of a rebounder than he is now.  People would be comparing him to Rodman without the personality disorder and with a shot

[Csfan1984]

Smart at 6'8 =Leonard
IT at 6'1 = AI

You can't go wrong.

[Denis998]

Smart at 6' 8" would be ridiculously good.  I don't think IT being taller would be nearly as much of a difference maker.

this.

a taller Smart could guard the 2-3-4 spots and make the opposition's life hell.  that extra height would make him even more of a rebounder than he is now.  People would be comparing him to Rodman without the personality disorder and with a shot

he already guards 2-3-4

[Smartacus]

Gotta go Smart here but then again it might affect his ability to defend more than we think. Smart is currently elite at staying in a low stance, keeping a low center of gravity and always being ready to take a charge. Not sure all of that would be quite as easy if he was 6'8.

Side note: Sullinger at 7'0 would be dominant on the boards. The rise in his dunk stats alone would be through the roof.

[crimson_stallion]

Thomas.

Isaiah Thomas frequently dominates at his position despite having a major physical disadvantage every single night. 

Marcus Smart rarely dominates at his position despite having a major physical advantage every night.

Thomas actually plays really hard on defense, but he just lacks the height and reach to challenge shots.  If he were 6'1" I actually think he'd be a pretty good defensive player. 

At 6'1" I could see Thomas have a level of talent very similar to CP3.  Quite a similar skill set to Paul, similar physical attributes (strength, athleticism, etc), similar shooting ability and finishing ability, similar ball handling ability and rebounding ability.  I think IT is also an underrated playmaker as well, but the fact that he's more 'scoring' oriented stops him from putting up elite assists numbers. 

If IT were 6'1" then I think he'd be a 'score first' version of Chris Paul.

If Smart were 6'8" he would basically be a less athletically explosive version of Andre Iguodala.  In other words he'd be a really, really good player - but I think he'd still max out as a fringe All-Star.

[crimson_stallion]

Gotta go Smart here but then again it might affect his ability to defend more than we think. Smart is currently elite at staying in a low stance, keeping a low center of gravity and always being ready to take a charge. Not sure all of that would be quite as easy if he was 6'8.

Side note: Sullinger at 7'0 would be dominant on the boards. The rise in his dunk stats alone would be through the roof.

That is so true!

Sullinger at 7'0" tall would pretty much be Shaq-lite.  Or maybe not so light, since he'd probably be over 300 pounds if he were 7 feet tall! haha

He'd be really dominant though. 

I'd also love to see Kelly Olynyk with a 7'2" wingspan and an extra 20 pounds of muscle.  Man would be an absolute beast on offense.

Likewise a 7'0" version of Amir Johnson would be a defensive monster.

[KG Living Legend]

 Smart. The combo forward that wet dreams are made out of. Imagine Smart 6" taller. He might actually score some points at that height, and his wingspan would be like 7'3"

[max215]

6'1" Isaiah Thomas would probably be a superstar/perennial All-Star.

[loco_91]

Interesting topic. I'd take Smart at 6'8 easily. Part of the reason IT is so good is that he's so so quick, and that has something to do with being short - give him a few inches and he'll get better in some ways, but also lose something. Smart's style of play would make him a really, really good PF/SF. Someone mentioned Draymond Green, and rightly so.

[jpotter33]

Interesting topic. I'd take Smart at 6'8 easily. Part of the reason IT is so good is that he's so so quick, and that has something to do with being short - give him a few inches and he'll get better in some ways, but also lose something. Smart's style of play would make him a really, really good PF/SF. Someone mentioned Draymond Green, and rightly so.

Same here. I think he'd lose some of his quickness by adding four inches or so. Smart at 6'8" with that frame and strength is Lebron-esque with his physical intimidation, if not greater.