Marcus Smart

[GrandTheftRondo]

Where is this guy at?

It's year three and I'd argue he's basically similar to what he was in year one. He's an okay playmaker, poor shooter and defensively he's obviously very talented.

I just can't see him being here long-term. His skillset isn't what we lack, and I'm beginning to feel more and more like we should have taken Julius Randle instead of him.

[cl2117]

He's only played 3 games and he's been solid. What were you expecting?

He's got first team all-defense still, but the offensive game just hasn't come through. I'm waiting on him to get a better shot selection, which I think would drastically overhaul his offensive impact, but I don't think you can expect an overnight change in his playmaking/shooting. If he's going to get better on that front it's going to be a long road similar to AB, who had to work himself into what he is now.

I think Smart and Randle are similar level prospects. It's revisionist history to look at Smart and Randle now and say we should have taken Randle since Danny had no idea he'd have IT or Jae or Horford when drafting. Our team could have gone a totally different direction and we be sitting here saying "man I wish I had Smart instead of Randle".

[TommyPointGawd]

Smart has been solid. He hasn't really has the chance to play with Horford or Jae. He's been stuck with Zeller and Jerebko. Despite that first game he has gotten to the hoop and scored pretty well.

Also sample size my guy. 3 games one of which he iced in the final minutes. 2nd was a back2back vs the champs w/o key players. 3rd was a historically bad game for everybody involved.

You probably have been saving this post for awhile now but you may have pulled the trigger to early.

Edit- If you take a smaller sample size of the last 2 games he's averaging 13.5 on 50% from the field 40% from 3.

[OBisHalJordan]

I'm a big Smart skeptic. I don't think he's as good as many on this forum do. Here's a something I wrote in a different thread:

Right now, Smart is a role player. He's chronically overvalued on this board because he's our big prize for the tank year in 2013-2014 but the fact of the matter is he's not a very good player: great defender and historically terrible offensive shooter. He's kind of Rondo during his final years in Boston but he's one elite skill is defense. He hasn't put together anything close to Rondo's peak years when he brought elite passing, defense, and rebounding. Out of the four guards in the rotation (IT, Bradley, Rozier, and Smart), he's certainly has the most uneven skill set and is in the conversation with Rozier for the worst of the four.

If Boston trades any of their guards, it should be Smart or IT. IT is too short and will always be a defensive liability. He's played himself into a starting role and it will be hard to get him to settle for 6th man role and contract. Smart is coming off the worst shooting season ever and cannot stay healthy. I think he's a lot more likely to be Tony Allen 2.0 than an all-star player. Bradley is arguably the team's best player at the moment. Rozier has the physical skills and shooting form to grow into much more better two-way player than either IT or Smart.

On the subject of Randle, I think its pretty untenable that DA went with Smart over him. At the time, the team's best player, Rondo, played the same position as Smart. Meanwhile, the team's big men were (and still are, with the exception of Horford) flawed rotational players with no legit NBA starter among them: Sully (out of shape and injury prone) Bass (solid rotational player that reached developmental peak) KO (strange PG-turned-big learning game after late growth spurt with lots of question marks regarding his potential and developmental trajectory) Zeller (poor-to-solid rational player that, with hindsight, has seemed to flatline rather than continue to develop).

Not only were the team's bigs underwhelming at the time, it is also much easier to find a guard in that it is to find a decent-to-good big man. My question for everyone: if you replaced Smart with Randle would this team be better? I would much rather have Randle starting next to Horford than Smart backing up IT and Bradley.

I want to say that Smart is trash but that's not true. He's just a player with a very uneven skillset. Everyone hated Rondo's final years in Boston but Smart is essentially the same player just with a different distribution of uneven skills. If you supported the Rondo trade, you should be clamoring for DA to trade Smart (in package bc everyone outside of Boston knows he's not good enough to be a centerpiece) for a decent with some potential big or, at least, a guard/wing with a more even skillset. If DA's going to commit big money and long term contract to an injury prone defensive player, I'd rather have Noel than combo-guard/short small forward like Smart.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Julius Randle? The guy who blew off another workout from the Cs so he could do a GQ interview? The guy who grew up idolizing Kobe? Thanks, but no thanks. That guy didn't want to be here.

As for Smart - he's averaging 11, 4rpg and 3 apg. 3pt shooting has been bad, but he's shooting 57% from 2 point range. Not great for a 6th pick obviously, but I'm still not writing him off.........yet.

[VeryMuchWoke]

Smart's offense is improving, not by leaps and bounds, but at at a decent place. He's a much better playmaker in the pick and roll than he used to be. His vision is impressive at times, the "what is he doing" 3pt heaves are way down in frequency.

I also would not be surprised if his new shooting strike starts paying off on the second half of the year. Changing your stroke is not a quick fix. Until you get a lot of reps in with your new form your likely to be the same or worse as a shooter.

Randle has looked better, but he's still a offensive traditional PF, which is probably the worst skillet for the pace and space era. I'll change my tune when he starts draining threes.

[brackdan70]

Smart does so many little things that help the team. He is no all star, but an important player for the Cs. he can't really be judged by FG% in my opinion.
That said I do really want to see some improvement this year.

I am so glad we didn't pick Randle. Dude is a decent talent but he is not Smart.

[ryaningf]

I didn't like Smart coming out of college*. I thought he was a SG who couldn't shoot; I thought playing him at PG would be a mistake because of his poor shot selection and ballhandling ability. I also thought he lacked the decision making skills and mentality to actually play PG. I was wrong about his PG acumen however; he's improved his awareness and handle every year. He's a good passer, can run the offense, and fulfill the mundane requirements of PG (bring the ball up, call plays, play with the proper pace, change speeds, etc...)

After we drafted him, it became clear that he had the classic (circa 1985) SF skillset, good passer, good handle, great defense, good rebounder, and streaky jump shooter. Problem is, that skillset comes in John Bagley's body.

I'm still bullish on him, but it's going to take longer than we'd like. The injuries are a part of that. And I think the injuries will continue because they're partly a function of the way he plays (with reckless abandon). I don't think you try to coach that out of him - it's what separates him from other guys with similar skillsets.

The other main reason it's going to take longer than we'd like: he has yet to get serious about his body. He's simply carrying too much weight. He can get away with it in his early 20s, but to reach his potential he needs a Kyle Lowry type transformation. Marcus is incredibly strong for his size, and could drop 20lbs without sacrificing any of the functional basketball strength he's developed. Given the weight he carries and the constant blemishes on his face, I'd say there's a diet/lifestyle thing lurking under the surface that he needs to address in a major way.

The shot has been troublesome to say the least. I didn't like him at all coming out of college, but even I thought he'd shoot it better than he has. In college, he was actually a good shooter when open in catch-and-shoot situations. That continued into his rookie year but last year he regressed there. He continues to be a poor shooter off the dribble, where he's much looser with his form and much too liberal with his shot selection. What he's done in the last 6 months, however, is diversify his shot selection. He's actually getting to the rim now. Not with speed, but with angles and strength. I think he'll continue to slowly get better here. He's also starting to find some comfort in the midrange, and that's probably where he should be taking those off-the-dribble shots. I have no problem with him taking standstill 3s in catch-and-shoot situations, even if he continues to be a 30% shooter. In this day and age, and with Brad as coach, he must take those shots. I think eventually he'll hit them enough to keep the defense honest.

Julius Randle puts up #s, I'll give him that. I don't think those #s translate much into winning. And really, that's what the difference is between Smart and Randle. Smart makes winning plays even though his #s are never that great; Randle gets his #s but never really contributes to winning. Randle is a black David Lee - he looks good playing the game but watch him closely and you'll see he gives up as much (or more) than he gets. In other words, he doesn't defend. I think they're both in the perfect market for them because Randle is all flash and Smart all substance.

If I'm pining for someone from that draft, it's probably Saric or Elfrid Payton. Payton is a worse shooter than Smart, but he's killer around the rim and in transition; and a better one-on-one defender against point guards. He's also a true PG and I have a soft spot for those. Saric has Randle's rebounding, passing, and scoring prowess, but can also hit 3s and defend.



* For those following along at home, yes, the Cs have managed to take a guy I've voraciously argued against taking for the last 4 years straight. Started with KO in 2013, then Smart, Rozier, and Brown. Be on the lookout for the guys I can't stand in 2017, because likely we will draft one of them.

[24istheLAW]

I'm not sure people on here realize how bad Julius Randle is.

He can't defend, he turns the ball over, he can't shoot. He fouls a ton. Most of these things were forseeable as a prospect. 439th out of 462 last year in Engelmann's RAPM. ORtg of 97, DRtg of 108. Last year the Lakers were 11.5 points worse with him on the court. Smart has an end of the court to hang his hat on - Randle neither.

I don't think Smart has done enough to justify his selection myself. But surely we find a better I-told-you-so than Randle. Nurkic? LaVine? Someone who actually has value upside Smart doesn't?

[OFWGKTA]

Tiny sample size so far, but on open 3s so far this season, Smart is at 42.5% on 4 open attempts per game. Get our guys healthy, and he should have more open looks.

[Edug27]

Not a Smart fan by any means... Not much of a Randle fan either though.. But if I had to choose 1, I'd go Randle. But it's a toss up either way

[Banks2Pierce]

I'm not sure people on here realize how bad Julius Randle is.

Looks interesting this year. Curious to see what he comes out looking like as the sample size grows. I don't know whether to treat last season as his rookie year or 2nd year, but he looks very different based upon which context you view him in. Either way, Randle plays the deepest position in the league and Smart the thinnest.

[Green89]

One concern is he's still having trouble finishing at the rim. He seems to have no set shooting form for layups. He just chucks them up and hopes they fall.

[Slartibartfast]

Smart is Kirk Hinrich with more strength and less range. Good player with a frustrating ceiling, somewhat disappointing overall for his draft position but not that disappointing when you look at the guys taken immediately after him.

[Green89]

Smart is Kirk Hinrich with more strength and less range. Good player with a frustrating ceiling, somewhat disappointing overall for his draft position but not that disappointing when you look at the guys taken immediately after him.

Elfrid Payton's a better player. More than doubles Smart's career assist rate.

[truth18]

Where is this guy at?

It's year three and I'd argue he's basically similar to what he was in year one. He's an okay playmaker, poor shooter and defensively he's obviously very talented.

I just can't see him being here long-term. His skillset isn't what we lack, and I'm beginning to feel more and more like we should have taken Julius Randle instead of him.

OT but you need to change your avy, man.

[2Mas]

I like Smart but he's a low ranking starter / good backup. Sucks he was a 6th pick. I love all he does & does a ton of little things that are awesome. But he was not the player he should've taken.

Players taken after Smart -- Jokic, Capela, HOOD, Harris, Nurkic, Lavine, Saric Randle. I wanted Hood at 16. Easy to tell he was going to a good not amazing pro.

But we overrate Smart. I know we all love him & his mindset & whatnot, but compared to other ppl, he really isn't anything special. More of our binky than a great NBA player.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Where is this guy at?

It's year three and I'd argue he's basically similar to what he was in year one. He's an okay playmaker, poor shooter and defensively he's obviously very talented.

I just can't see him being here long-term. His skillset isn't what we lack, and I'm beginning to feel more and more like we should have taken Julius Randle instead of him.

OT but you need to change your avy, man.

Need a name change too

[GrandTheftRondo]

I'm not sure people on here realize how bad Julius Randle is.

Looks interesting this year. Curious to see what he comes out looking like as the sample size grows. I don't know whether to treat last season as his rookie year or 2nd year, but he looks very different based upon which context you view him in. Either way, Randle plays the deepest position in the league and Smart the thinnest.

PF is the deepest position? Are you kidding?

The PG position is the deepest by a mile.

[Banks2Pierce]

PF is the deepest position? Are you kidding?

The PG position is the deepest by a mile.

Yeah, easily. Smart guards 2s and 3s 90% of his time on the court anyways. He is essentially a playmaking 2.
PG has interesting depth. 20 isn't that much worse than 8, but it falls off hard after the 20s. PF has interesting players into the 50s and 60s.