Marcus Smart is definitely expendable, and I think anybody who believes otherwise has a serious case of green glasses syndrome.
The problem with Smart is that right now, he is a strict role player. He's basically a pure defensive/hustle guy who can't really do a lot of anything else with consistency.
* He is a competent ball handler and passer by combo guard standards, but not by PG standards
* He's a terrible finisher inside the paint
* He has zero midrange game - I mean absolutely zero
* His three point shot is horribly inconsistent
* His basketball IQ is questionable, given his tendency to make terrible decisions both on offense (shot selection) and on defence (tendency to commit stupid fouls)
* His inability to control his temper is starting to get him into some real trouble, to the point where he's going to earn a Rasheed Wallace like reputation if he's not careful - his tendency to argue every call is getting tiring and is already impacting his ability to get respect from officials
* His general lack of great athleticism and offensive skills greatly limit his ability to create offense and be anything more than a spot up shooter
Smart is so good defensively and has such a high motor / work ethic that I'll never count him out, but the more I see of him the more I start to have doubts about how high his ceiling is. At first I thought he had the potential to become a fringe all-star, now I'm starting to question if he'll ever be good enough to be a 30+ MPG starter on a good playoff team.
At the very least, Smart needs to learn better shot selection (5+ attempts from three when you're shooting below 28% is not acceptable) and he needs to either (a) improve his jump-shot substantially or (b) learn to become a good finisher around the basket. Until he can do those two things it's going to be hard for him to ever earn himself a consistent sixth man role, let alone a consistent stating role on a good team. He's nowhere near dependable enough right not to take the 6th man role away from Turner.
Smart is already buried behind Bradley, Thomas and Turner in the rotation, and the worrying thing is that now even Rozier is starting to put some pressure on him despite the fact that he has minimal NBA experience. Rozier was playing some crunch time minute in the last game against Phoenix, which shows that Stevens is really starting to get confidence in him. If Rozier can prove that he belongs out there on a consistent basis, then it's going to get very hard for Stevens to manage a 7 man rotation of Thomas, Bradley, Turner, Smart, Rozier and Crowder...with Smart starting to look like the odd man out.
I like the situation we have right now. Thomas and Bradley are the clear starters right now, and are by far the most consistent producers in the backcourt (since Turner is mostly backing up Crowder at SF). Rozier and Smart are both high motor, high work ethic, 'chip on my shoulder' guys who have the mentality of wanting to be great, so it's really up to those to guys to battle it out for that backup combo-guard role. I like this because it means those two guys are both going to have to prove they want it more.
Right now we have a Brooklyn pick in the top 5 all but guaranteed, and we also have a Mavs pick that is now top 12, with a chance of dropping further with Parsons gone for he season. We have the potential to land two top 10 picks if the basketball gods swing things our way, and that gives a lot of flexibility.
* If the Brooklyn pick falls 4 or 5 we could try to package the Nets pick and the Dallas pick to move into the top 3.
* If the Dallas pick lands at 12, we could try to package it with the Celtics pick to move into the top 10
* If the Dallas pick lands top 10, we could trade the Nets pick for an established star, and still draft a top 10 prospect
* If the Nets pick falls top 3 we can draft a potential future star, then try to package Smart + Mavs pick + Celtics pick for an established star
On the plus, Smart is still very young and he is showing signs of improvement - rebounding better, passing better, doing a much better job at getting to the line (FTR has almost doubled since his rookie year) so there is some promise there if he can get his head on right and develop his game. Guys like Crowder, Thomas and Turner are only just starting to take their games to the next level not at the age of 25-26 so Smart still has a LOT of time to show us what he can do.
Still, I do not think Danny would hesitate to trade Smart if he feels the return is worthwhile - e.g. a star who he feels can put us over the top for the long term (Cousins, Butler, etc).
