Before everyone reaches for the reply button to tell me how wrong I am, please take a second to consider what I'm asking.
Is Marcus Smart expendable?
I'm not asking if you think he's good or bad, per se. What I want to know is that do our chances of building a contender go up by hanging on to him, or is now the time to sell high?
As a player, Smart is very clearly defined as poor offensively, great defensively, and a phenomenal intangibles guy. I think most of us would agree that despite the offensive issues he's overall a good player and an asset to our team. That said, he's far from a perfect player and there's a risk that he never develops a serviceable offensive game. That's one potential issue. The other risk is that we currently overvalue his game because his contributions (hustle, defense) are so hard to measure.
In light of those risks, and in consideration of the fact we now have an all-star caliber point guard in IT, I think Smart is a tradeable asset. One of the best ways to get ahead in this league is by selling high on assets, which means you need to flip them before their value diminishes. Ainge did this to masterful effect with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in the Brooklyn trade.
In contrast, it's obvious in retrospect that Ainge held on to Rondo far, far too long. There was a time when Rondo-for-CP3 rumors were a real thing... and people thought that Boston would have been getting the losing end of that trade. Obviously there's always a chance that a trade backfires, but you have to take risks in order to win big in this league.
As it pertains to Smart, if I were Ainge I would wager that there's a fair chance Smart's value never rises beyond where it's at now. I think it's time to sell high.
