Is Smart expendable?

[Ed Hollison]

The guy can't buy a bucket right now and he still makes plays every game that help win the game.

This is the point. He's in a horrible shooting slump and yet he's been as big part of the Celtics' recent success. He just does so many things that help a team win.

Dude's 22. If he develops into an adequate offensive player, then combined with his defense he's enormously valuable. Gotta have patience.

[Ed Hollison]

Maybe Rozier is in the shop window for teams to see.

I wonder about this as well. I think the main reason we've seen more of Rozier is the Crowder injury, which slid Smart into more small forward minutes and opened up time in the backcourt. But I do think the Celtics want to expose Rozier to other teams for the contingency of a trade this summer.

[feckless]

Maybe Rozier is in the shop window for teams to see.

I wonder about this as well. I think the main reason we've seen more of Rozier is the Crowder injury, which slid Smart into more small forward minutes and opened up time in the backcourt. But I do think the Celtics want to expose Rozier to other teams for the contingency of a trade this summer.

Rozier has shown some progress and potential as a play maker.  Marcus while a superb defender and hustle guy off the bench, has shown no feel for play making or running a team. His shot selection is horrible, his first shot when entering the game (when you would assume it has been emphasized that he should think about taking only good shots) is often just a plain bad-to ridiculous choice.  Keep him but realize that he may never grow beyond a Tony Allen.

[Eja117]

You would need to bring in an equally intense player. Smart is a leader. If you lose him the defensive drop off could be severe.

We aren't used to thinking of guards as being the most important defensive player on the team, but with the new rules where you get a foul for breathing on a guard it's pretty important.

Realistically if we bring in Hield I think Avery might be the expendable one. Especially if Hield can play defense.

Terry Rozier, RJ Hunter, and James Young are expendable ones right now. Not sure what you'd get for them.

[feckless]

You would need to bring in an equally intense player. Smart is a leader. If you lose him the defensive drop off could be severe.

We aren't used to thinking of guards as being the most important defensive player on the team, but with the new rules where you get a foul for breathing on a guard it's pretty important.

Realistically if we bring in Hield I think Avery might be the expendable one. Especially if Hield can play defense.

Terry Rozier, RJ Hunter, and James Young are expendable ones right now. Not sure what you'd get for them.

Why is Smart a leader?  When Crowder (along with IT - the real leaders) went down Brad tried starting Smart and it did not work.  Turner while not as strong a defender as Smart is a more versatile defender-  being able to guard the 1, 2 & 3--  Smart cannot guard most 3's and is anything but a leader on offense.

Given his hero antics on offense I doubt that the rest of the team looks at him as a leader.

[LilRip]

Unless it's a knockout deal, you keep him. I think trading Smart this early in his career is pretty short-sighted. I still think dude has the potential to be a two-way force.

[spikelovetheCelts]

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.

All players are expendable to Danny Ainge. Should we trade depends on the return. His instincts are in the top 10 in the league. All else can get better with reps. I say watch him grow.

[Eja117]

You would need to bring in an equally intense player. Smart is a leader. If you lose him the defensive drop off could be severe.

We aren't used to thinking of guards as being the most important defensive player on the team, but with the new rules where you get a foul for breathing on a guard it's pretty important.

Realistically if we bring in Hield I think Avery might be the expendable one. Especially if Hield can play defense.

Terry Rozier, RJ Hunter, and James Young are expendable ones right now. Not sure what you'd get for them.

Why is Smart a leader?  When Crowder (along with IT - the real leaders) went down Brad tried starting Smart and it did not work.  Turner while not as strong a defender as Smart is a more versatile defender-  being able to guard the 1, 2 & 3--  Smart cannot guard most 3's and is anything but a leader on offense.

Given his hero antics on offense I doubt that the rest of the team looks at him as a leader.

So you think a very young team just happened to become a great defensive team as soon as they drafted Smart and it has nothing to do with him? When you have a guy leaving it all out on the floor every single night, that is definitely leadership. He's a leader like Perk that way. Refusing to back down to anything ever is definitely leadership. We have seen tons of offensive players prove offense doesn't necessarily equate to leadership

[Evantime34]

Even if Smart can be moved due to depth, I wouldn't move him.

I believe he will get better so trading him now is selling low. Ainge isn't the type to sell low.

[lefty12]

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.

All players are expendable to Danny Ainge. Should we trade depends on the return. His instincts are in the top 10 in the league. All else can get better with reps. I say watch him grow.

When did hollinger start measuring instincts?

3rd request:
Can we just evaluate this kid based on HIS 100+ game body of work

I don't want to hear about potential or upside

Right now he = tony Allen

Deal with it

[Ilikesports17]

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.

All players are expendable to Danny Ainge. Should we trade depends on the return. His instincts are in the top 10 in the league. All else can get better with reps. I say watch him grow.

When did hollinger start measuring instincts?

3rd request:
Can we just evaluate this kid based on HIS 100+ game body of work

I don't want to hear about potential or upside

Right now he = tony Allen

Deal with it

when you say potential or upside do you mean you dont think Marcus has those things or that you dont want to talk about them because they arent tangible. If you dont think he has upside thats one thing, but if you dont think they are worth discussing thats pretty ridiculous.

[TheTruth]

At best I could see Smart as a very inefficient 20 point scorer. He certainly has a gunner mentality. He's just being held back because he has sucked so bad. Once he gets close to 40 percent as a shooter, watch out.

He's going to start letting them shots fly and shooting the Celtics out of games.

[lefty12]

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.

All players are expendable to Danny Ainge. Should we trade depends on the return. His instincts are in the top 10 in the league. All else can get better with reps. I say watch him grow.

When did hollinger start measuring instincts?

3rd request:
Can we just evaluate this kid based on HIS 100+ game body of work

I don't want to hear about potential or upside

Right now he = tony Allen

Deal with it

when you say potential or upside do you mean you dont think Marcus has those things or that you dont want to talk about them because they arent tangible. If you dont think he has upside thats one thing, but if you dont think they are worth discussing thats pretty ridiculous.

What is ridiculous is saddling this kid with unrealistic expectations because he was 6th pick

Again - if he was 22nd pick the narrative would be completely different

At some point you are what you are

Have we seen improvement since November?

[feckless]

You would need to bring in an equally intense player. Smart is a leader. If you lose him the defensive drop off could be severe.

We aren't used to thinking of guards as being the most important defensive player on the team, but with the new rules where you get a foul for breathing on a guard it's pretty important.

Realistically if we bring in Hield I think Avery might be the expendable one. Especially if Hield can play defense.

Terry Rozier, RJ Hunter, and James Young are expendable ones right now. Not sure what you'd get for them.

Why is Smart a leader?  When Crowder (along with IT - the real leaders) went down Brad tried starting Smart and it did not work.  Turner while not as strong a defender as Smart is a more versatile defender-  being able to guard the 1, 2 & 3--  Smart cannot guard most 3's and is anything but a leader on offense.

Given his hero antics on offense I doubt that the rest of the team looks at him as a leader.

So you think a very young team just happened to become a great defensive team as soon as they drafted Smart and it has nothing to do with him? When you have a guy leaving it all out on the floor every single night, that is definitely leadership. He's a leader like Perk that way. Refusing to back down to anything ever is definitely leadership. We have seen tons of offensive players prove offense doesn't necessarily equate to leadership

The only Celtic who I have heard say that Marcus Smart is a leader is Marcus Smart.  We became a very good defensive team once Crowder came into the fold.  From what I have seen Brad uses Avery as the top on the ball, guard defender--not Marcus. Leaving it all out on the floor has to include making good decisions-- Marcus right now is Tony Allen, poor decisions and all -- nothing more.  I hope he is the Scarecrow and finds a brain but that definitely remains to be seen. 

[PhoSita]

I dunno about Smart specifically, but if the BPA with the Nets' pick ends up being a guard, at least one of the guards in the rotation is going to look pretty expendable, especially if some of the other draft picks this year end up being guardish players (e.g. Grayson Allen, Caris LeVert, etc.).

This is a relatively guard heavy draft, and the Celts have a lot of draft picks.