Randle / Smart

[Optms]

Be thrilled you nabbed him, OP. I had him just ahead of Randle on my list of preferential daft candidates. Smart is a stud prospect at the guard. I love his legitimate combo guard skills, scoring, passing, instinctive defensive prowess and natural scoring ability inside.

Smart is basically the prototype of today's successful NBA guard. I love him to death.

If Lakers were 6th ? Try as hard as possible to move up and get Dante Exum.

If cant do that, get Randle.

I wouldnt touch Smart, better to move down and get Payton. Triple double threat and not fat

You're mistaking pure muscle for fat. Raymond Felton is fat. Deron Williams is fat.

Marcus Smart isn't fat. Rather a 6'4 bull who uses his strength to bully and out muscle defenders. Do you view every rookie who comes in with an NBA body as fat? Julius Randle should also be fat by your standards.

[Kilroy]

My only impression of Smart was his workout with the Lakers... I don't really have time to follow College ball..

And IMO, Smart looked terrible in that workout... Slow, no lateral quickness, and a goofy shot.

So for me, Randle by a mile...

[Danny Darko]

I wanted the Big vs PG at the time and now that we have seen Clarkson I'm even happier.

[Michael Lucky]

The thing with Clarkson though is that he shot 37% from 3 the year before, so his 29% 3 point shooting was a bit misleading this year which is reflected by how he's been shooting the three in summer league so far.

[Marionettetc]

I think either that late ( after top 3) would have been fine. At that point, I think you just hope who you pick won't bust out of the league.

That being said, I think they both show real nba potential and considering after Pau left, we needed a big man more than a guard. We have had serviceable guards, but a real pf I think is better for us. It's hindsight I know, but Pau and Kaman left so I'm happy with Randle.

[Mirjalovic]

Be thrilled you nabbed him, OP. I had him just ahead of Randle on my list of preferential daft candidates. Smart is a stud prospect at the guard. I love his legitimate combo guard skills, scoring, passing, instinctive defensive prowess and natural scoring ability inside.

Smart is basically the prototype of today's successful NBA guard. I love him to death.

If Lakers were 6th ? Try as hard as possible to move up and get Dante Exum.

If cant do that, get Randle.

I wouldnt touch Smart, better to move down and get Payton. Triple double threat and not fat

You're mistaking pure muscle for fat. Raymond Felton is fat. Deron Williams is fat.

Marcus Smart isn't fat. Rather a 6'4 bull who uses his strength to bully and out muscle defenders. Do you view every rookie who comes in with an NBA body as fat? Julius Randle should also be fat by your standards.

pure muscle is someone like Westbrook, Rose or prime Billups. They can bully defenders without having 10% of body fat or become like heaviest player under 6'3 ever on draft combine

Raymond and Deron weren't fat. Even scouting reports said they were strong and can bully defenders, but now they are fat lol.

[The Laker Kid]

You can't teach big

[DEEP3CL]

It was smart to pick Randle

So I see we have a comedian over here. Well done.

Naw...you got Exodus pegged wrong, he's one of the more thoughtful posters here.

[DEEP3CL]

Randle was my choice all along, we got lucky when Orlando went with Gordon because that blew up the rest of the draft. The Celtics getting Smart was obvious writing on the walls, Ainge put insurance in his pocket. Now he can pretty much bull doze any team who wants Rondo because they can't just assume he's in a desperate corner.

But either way we would've made out ok with Smart or Randle.

[TyCobb]

I wanted Exum or Gordon, but if Smart and Randle were the best players available then I would take Randle.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Randle was the third best player in the Draft, IMO, and he also had the best rookie season in the NCAA, leading his team to the Finals when his team wasn't even ranked going into the tournament. For some reason a lot of people don't put team success into the question when evaluating college players...but I think it's important when judging freshmen.

These other guys like Gordon and Embiid have more potential than Randle, but time will tell if that will pan out. I wouldn't be surprised if Randle put up 14/11 in his rookie season...and I don't see how Smart can develop behind Rondo and Bradley.

[dockingsched]

Never wanted Smart so I was glad the celtics took him over randle.

[spree8]

If Lakers were 6th ? Try as hard as possible to move up and get Dante Exum.

If cant do that, get Randle.

I wouldnt touch Smart, better to move down and get Payton. Triple double threat and not fat

Smh, please stop calling Smart fat...you sound like a crazy person lol.

To answer the OP's question tho, I'm big on Marcus. Like someone else mentioned, I think he can turn out to be a Westbrook type. You really can't go wrong with either one to be honest. Randle is the safer pick, but I think Smart has more potential.

[basketballRob]

I have a feeling they may regret not taking Payton.

[Sofa King]

Initially, I wanted Smart because I got tired of seeing the Lakers with craptastic talent. But after seeing how things went with workouts before the draft, I preferred Randle over Smart. It was a good call too. Even the Lakers front office was cheering once they heard Boston drafted Smart.

Smart could be a very good player, but Randle just fits with what we have now plus we got Jeremy Lin.

[Get17]

Seeing Smart go 2 for 10 over and over has made it easier to love Randle. Ok hyperbole, but Smart shot 29% (25% from 3) in Orlando, much like he shot in his tryouts with the Lakers. Yuck.

Randle + Clarkson better than Smart + 2nd rd PF

[chefy]

wanted smart because we needed a wing defender and a 2nd shot creator and a player that can penetrate. i was also a little worried about randle's foot. smart is a beast on defense, some people are even comparing him to payton. offensively i think he could be a poor man's westbrook or wade.

[MAMBAEMD]

I wanted Exum but knew he wouldn't be available.
After that, I wanted Gordon because I can see him develop into a Blake Griffin type PF. I was shocked he went as high as he did.

Between Randle and Smart, it would have been a tough call, not because I don't think Randle is talented. I think he is a great talent. I just wasn't sure his game and body would translate well into the NBA style of play. I hope it does. I've really liked him so far in the summer league.

[Kobean]

I would have been happy with either but I feel like when you have a chance to take a quality big man you take it.

[Interesting]

I would have been happy with either but I feel like when you have a chance to take a quality big man you take it.

This. I remember that Kupchak has stated before (I believe when defending his Bynum pick) that one of the first things he learned from Jerry West was that it's harder to find a big man and you can't pass them up in the draft. Factor in Randle's unique skill set: quickness, post moves, and excellent touch around the rim and this was a no brainer for Mitch.

Looking at Summer League play it seems that Mitch made the right decision. Smart 's shot looks even worse than televised if that's even possible. There's no way both Smart and Rondo can offensively Co exist on the floor together. Defenses will sag off them to the point of disrespect. I expect Rondo to be moved.

As for Randle, I believe his stats were deflated in the summer league a bit mostly due to Madsen trying to make a name for himself and implementing the Princeton offense or high post schemes, whatever it was which had Randle catching the ball near the 3 point line similar to what the brilliant Mike Brown did to Pau for 2 years. It was fun to see Randle exhibit his quickness and ball handling skills but hopefully once the season starts, Scott will put his butt in the poet and let Randle go to work. Call me old school but I want my big men backing in their defenders, and bullying them in the paint and using post moves to score.