Which of the following assets/situations would you rather have?

[Ilikesports17]

Marcus Smart sucks. He will never live up to his hype. I see a 2nd string bench role player that's it. I'd rather get rid of that mistake then to try n build around him.

Smart is a solid young player and helped Boston win playoff games basically single-handedly.

Except when he was shooting airballs where he sorta helped lose them single handedly.

We know you both hate Smart. He was very good in game 4. He hit some clutch shots in game 3 and basically won us game 4. i like him a lot you guys don't like him at all. I doubt either of our opinions are gonna be changed, but I hope you can both admit Marcus played well in the playoffs.

[jambr380]

Crowder is the player I most want the Cs to keep. His contract is amazing and he is a complete two-way player who continues to improve all aspects of his game and he also provides great leadership. Our team developed an identity last year only after he arrived. There is a reason Cleveland went after him twice in the playoffs.

I also like the Smart option, but only two years left on his rookie contract and he isn't [yet] the player that Jae is. I will take the guarantee in this scenario.

[Eja117]

Marcus Smart sucks. He will never live up to his hype. I see a 2nd string bench role player that's it. I'd rather get rid of that mistake then to try n build around him.

Smart is a solid young player and helped Boston win playoff games basically single-handedly.

Except when he was shooting airballs where he sorta helped lose them single handedly.

We know you both hate Smart. He was very good in game 4. He hit some clutch shots in game 3 and basically won us game 4. i like him a lot you guys don't like him at all. I doubt either of our opinions are gonna be changed, but I hope you can both admit Marcus played well in the playoffs.

He did some good things in the playoffs. Whoop de doo. Now go learn to shoot.

[Csfan1984]

Can I have IT and the 3rd?

[crimson_stallion]

For me it would have to be either: (a) Isaiah Thomas or (b) Avery Bradley + #3.

Very hard for me to pick between those.  Thomas is a top 10 scorer in the league and an All-Star, and he's (by far) got he highest "free agent lure" ability of any player on the roster.  But he's still one man, so creating a team around him would be a big task.

On the other hand Avery Bradley is a two-way player who can give you 14 PPG - 15 PPG, he can stretch the floor, he's been officially recognised as the best defensive guard in the NBA, his outstanding intangibles make him a perfect role model for any new guys you bring in, and despite his experience he's still only 25 years old. 

With Bradley in place you could then use the #3 pick would to add Dunn - a starting caliber PG with great intangibles and star potential. 

Now you have a pair of high character two-way guards who will give you 110% effort every night, for a combined cost of around $12m a year, who are young enough to be your starting backcourt for the next 5-8 years.

Alternatively you can draft Jakob Poeltl at #3 - it's a bit of a reach, but he's another high character two-way guy if you don't want to put all your eggs one one basket (i.e. the backcourt). 

I think I'm taking the AB + #3 option if it's me.  There are just so many options there, and Bradley is the type of guy would fit on pretty much any roster.  Who doesn't need a team-first 15 PPG all defensive teamer who can shoot threes?

[Eja117]

This whole thing where people are so confident a guard picked high will be such a great player....I'm just not as confident at all. I've seen it before. His name is Marcus Smart and every time he shoots I pray it's not an airball.

[crimson_stallion]

This whole thing where people are so confident a guard picked high will be such a great player....I'm just not as confident at all. I've seen it before. His name is Marcus Smart and every time he shoots I pray it's not an airball.

Every single flaw that exists in Marcus Smart's game today, was very clearly identified by scouts pre-draft.

Just about every scouting report raised question marks about:

1) Could he ever become develop a sound jump shot?
2) Did he have the explosiveness and ball handling to get to the basket?
3) Did he have the PG skills to excell as a proper PG, and could he shoot well enough to be a SG?

All well documented criticisms, and yet if you look at the 2014/15 draft in hindsight, it's pretty difficult to name 6 players from that draft who you could say are significantly better players right now then Smart is. 

Fact is, the 14/15 draft was exceptionally top heavy, and Smart being taken #6 really wasn't a reach when you look back at that draft now.  He's genuinely worthy of that draft position.

This year's draft is much, much deeper then 14/15 was.  If you look at Kris Dunn, he doesn't really have any of the criticisms Smart does.  There is no question about his athleticism.  No question about his ball handling, passing or court vision.

The only thing anybody has raised questions about is his jumpshot, and that is being pretty nick-picky given that he shot 37% on just over three attempts per game in this past season - he clearly has potential to become a quality shooter, even if he's obviously not in Murray/Hield league in that regard.

If you look at the 2014/15 draft, the top 7 guys taken were:

- Andrew Wiggins
- Jabari Parker
- Joel Embiid
- Aaron Gordon
- Dante Exum
- Marcus Smart
- Julius Randle

The only guy on that list who had a genuinely credible jumpshot was Parker.  The next best shooter was probably Wiggins (who's jumper was raised as a legit concern) followed by - sturbingly enough - probably Embiid.

Compare that to this year's draft and you have Ingram, Hield, Murray, Bender and Dunn - that's 5 of your top 7 prospects who all look like capable shooters.  This draft is going to be a lot better then it's given credit for. 

The top 7 or so guys in this draft (Simmons, Ingram, Murray, Hield, Dunn, Benderm, Brown) all look like guys who have a pretty solid chance at becoming All-Stars one day. 

There are at least another 5 or 6 (Poeltl, Ellenson, Labissiere, Davis, Chriss, Valentine) who have an outside chance or surprising and becoming stars if the stars align. 

Then you have at least a handful of other guys (Sabonis, Jones, Baldwin, Korkmaz, Luwawu, Ziubac, etc)  who look like they could have long careers as quality starters.

This draft looks infinitely better then 14/15 (which was disgracefully overhyped).   

[alldaboston]

interesting.

i took the word "you" as in meaning, a team making a deal with us, thus reading the question in the form of "which of these would a TEAM making a trade with us rather have?", and i chose crowder and the pick. i think his contract is incredible and everyone would want that, plus marcus isnt seen as highly by other teams as he is here. and avery would be close but i chose that a team would prefer crowder since he has still more room to grow compared to avery (imo).

if im choosing from a celtics perspective, id probably take marcus and the pick. i still see great things in marcus's future. i think he will figure it out.

[BDeCosta26]

Marcus Smart sucks. He will never live up to his hype. I see a 2nd string bench role player that's it. I'd rather get rid of that mistake then to try n build around him.

Whatever you think of his offense, Smart most certainly doesn't suck.

Kid is a future DPOY candidate, whose absolute floor is a rich mans Tony Allen.

You think TA sucks too?

[BDeCosta26]

Marcus Smart sucks. He will never live up to his hype. I see a 2nd string bench role player that's it. I'd rather get rid of that mistake then to try n build around him.

Smart is a solid young player and helped Boston win playoff games basically single-handedly.

Except when he was shooting airballs where he sorta helped lose them single handedly.

We know you both hate Smart. He was very good in game 4. He hit some clutch shots in game 3 and basically won us game 4. i like him a lot you guys don't like him at all. I doubt either of our opinions are gonna be changed, but I hope you can both admit Marcus played well in the playoffs.

He did some good things in the playoffs. Whoop de doo. Now go learn to shoot.

He got a bunch of clutch shots in the playoffs? And Smart doesn't try to score enough to lose games on his own.

Eja, I don't get how you can possibly be so pessimistic. This team is as well set up for the future as any team in the NBA. You make it seem like were up shiz's creek without a paddle. A lot of teams would kill to be in our position.

Rome wasn't built in a day. This is year 3 of our rebuild. Patience is a virtue.

[BDeCosta26]

And the best part is, we don't have to "choose" between those assets. We have them all. So what in the world are you even talking about?

[ThePaintedArea]

So in terms of going out to get Kevin Durant (or some other all star type player) you all think the thing he would generally be most attracted to is Smart and the 3rd pick?

That wasn't the question in the poll, was it?  Actually what the Celtics have to offer is not stars at all but a solid, effective team with a core group of excellent complementary players.  Durant might not be a devotee of advanced analytics, but he probably noticed that the Celtics won 48 games - pretty good for a young team.  By the same token the Thunder are obviously at another level, and it's unclear to me why the fantasy of him coming to Boston still has legs.  Maybe there's something we don't know, but I'd say that he'd be crazy to leave.

Because I definitely think he would count Westbrook and IT ahead of that. When players are trying to decide where to go and who to play with I think they think of playing with the best players, not unproven young guys.

Well, they change teams (and stay put, for that matter) for all sorts of reasons that don't directly have to do with winning, including money, security, personal conflicts, the way they're being used, keeping the kids in the same school...

Having said that... if it's Isaiah Thomas versus Russell Westbrook, it's a no-brainer.

Also I think IT coming here is why this team has become as good as it has more than any other thing.

In a way I agree with this - just not the way you said it.  I mean that it is not a question of him being better than his teammates (he's not the best player on the team, in fact; Crowder, Johnson, and Olynyk all contributed more than he did to winning games this past season) - but what he does is both absolutely indispensable and hard to find:  he creates shots with the dribble and the pass, and shoots with range and gets to the rim; and the closest they had to that before he came on board was Evan Turner, who has a turnover problem, is not super speedy, and sucks at the longball. 

Of the choices you offered, I picked Olynyk, Mickey, and the buffet; but it was close between that and Crowder + 3, and I'm not sure I wouldn't gladly change my mind.  By the way, I think Smart's one of the core guys.

[alldaboston]

Also I think IT coming here is why this team has become as good as it has more than any other thing.

(he's not the best player on the team, in fact; Crowder, Johnson, and Olynyk all contributed more than he did to winning games this past season)

sorry, what? that is a really ridiculous statement. i didnt even read the rest of your post after that. i couldnt. i was laughing too hard.

[ThePaintedArea]

Marcus Smart sucks. He will never live up to his hype. I see a 2nd string bench role player that's it. I'd rather get rid of that mistake then to try n build around him.

Smart is a solid young player and helped Boston win playoff games basically single-handedly.

Except when he was shooting airballs where he sorta helped lose them single handedly.

We know you both hate Smart. He was very good in game 4. He hit some clutch shots in game 3 and basically won us game 4. i like him a lot you guys don't like him at all. I doubt either of our opinions are gonna be changed, but I hope you can both admit Marcus played well in the playoffs.

He did some good things in the playoffs. Whoop de doo. Now go learn to shoot.

A couple of aspects of Brother Marcus' shooting that ticked up really nicely this year, that no one seems to mention around here:  he brought his FT% up from a D to a B+, and his attempts rate went up steeply as well (to .314 attempts per FG attempt, a nice number) - a couple of things that he can hang his hat on as he steps into the role of pick and roll ballhandler.

[ThePaintedArea]

Also I think IT coming here is why this team has become as good as it has more than any other thing.

(he's not the best player on the team, in fact; Crowder, Johnson, and Olynyk all contributed more than he did to winning games this past season)

sorry, what? that is a really ridiculous statement. i didnt even read the rest of your post after that. i couldnt. i was laughing too hard.

It's good for your health.  You're welcome.