NormanDale wrote:I really wish I were as high on Marcus Smart as everyone else on this board seems to be. I see no evidence that he will be as good as any of the players mentioned on this thread: Ron Artest, Chauncey Billups, Draymond Green, Gary Freaking Payton?? Even Tony Allen was a better athlete and a better defender than Smart.
I'm sorry, but I just don't see it. I see a guy who can't shoot, is an average ballhandler and passer, and is nothing particularly special athletically (by NBA standards, of course), and has not improved substantially since his rookie season. It seems like he reads the game well, works hard, and his teammates and coaches like him. That is enough for a serviceable, productive NBA career, but I don't see him becoming an All-Star, or anything better than a bench player (or a fifth starter at best) on a good team.
I'd pull the reigns in on calling Allen a better defender than Smart. Smart has effectively defended the likes of Paul Millsap, Kristaps Porzingis and, in the last meeting with Cleveland, LeBron James.
Smart is just 22 years old and he is already doing all of this. Allen was not that type of defender at 22.
Also, Smart is better than just an average passer at this stage. He has turned into a very solid one, and a legitimate argument can be made that he is the best passer on this team. His floor vision has improved drastically, and he has done a superb job of quickly finding cutters and squeezing passes into tight spots leading to easy buckets.
To add on, Smart seems to have that "it" factor. He is always making big plays at crucial moments, and he seems to become Ray Allen from beyond the arc late in games (slight exaggeration, but you get the point).
And again, he's only 22. Plenty of room for improvement.
That being said, I'm not sure where anyone ever got the Chauncey Billups comparison from. I've seen that thrown around since his rookie year, and he literally couldn't be anything less like Billups.
