I have no heartburn about trading Marcus Smart whatsoever. Not offensively skilled enough to worry about trading. We'll be fine defensively.
Stevens wants guys that can switch in pick n rolls with out giving up much of an advantage. He hasn't had that ability to do that yet because of players like Sully and KO that can't guard anything faster than a sloth.
Smarts been able to guard 1-5 with some success. While AB can shoot better than Smart he can only really guard 1's and 2's. And IT, 1's. Smart has done a lot on the defensive end that makes up for his lack off offense. If he can become an average offensive player, which wouldn't take too much, he has a slight advantage over AB.
And I'm not saying Smart should be a starter, I don't think AB is really a starter, not on a contender. Butler fills that roll much more, but I'd rather have Smart and AB backing up IT and a Butler than get rid of one of them.
Unfortunately AB has the most value when it comes to D and the ability to shoot the 3 ball under that contract. If you're swapping one for Butler, AB would be the one that goes because you have to give up one less asset to make it work in a trade. And if you keep AB, he's going to demand a huge pay raise in a could years.
Smart will be more cost effective and you don't give up much.
You give Olynyk a great disservice with that comment.
There is a reason why he has had some of the better advanced numbered defensively at his position the last 2 seasons - it's not a fluke. KO is not a rim protector by any means, but he's actually a LOT more mobile the people give him credit for. He moves pretty well laterally for a 7 footer, he's very intelligent and is always in the right place at the right time, and he rarely does stupid things like bite on pump fakes.
Even his shotblocking numbers were half respectable last season.
Kelly's athleticism is massively underrated on here I think. He's not a great leaper and doesn't play much above the rim, but he runs hard and and often in transition and he has consistently been one of our better defensive players for a year or two now.
If you can reduce the foul tendancy (he did a bit last year) he'll get even better.
Sully is in a similar category - when he wants to be. Sully has shown he can be a quality defensive player but doesn't always seem to be motivated to move. He's not as mobile as KO though and seems to struggle a lot more against quicker bigs who Kelly often can stick with ok.
I still remember the brilliant defensive Job Olynyk did against Cousins not that long ago. Can't begin to compete with him on size or strength, but he used angles and his hands well to force DMC into uncomfortable positions, and in that he forced a lot of bad shots. He didn't get a lot of credit for it, but he was playing EXCEPTIONAL defence that night against a guy who should have had his number in so many ways.
Topic: Not to be a Homer... but *CAN'T* Trade Bradley, Smart or Crowder! (Read 6176 times)