soxfan2003 wrote:TommyPointGawd wrote:Looking back at 2014 Draft. Smart is actually better than everyone picked ahead of him besides Embiid. And it's not really close at all.
In a redraft it's Embiid, Jokic, then I guess you can debate between Dinwiddie/Smart/Levine but I would take Smart all day.
Of those 3, I would take Smart. I do think Aaron Gordon has done well enough that he deserves mentioning. As much as I like Smart and I was on record in this forum saying if Celtics stayed at #6, they should select Marcus Smart and really avoid Randle.... someone like Aaron Gordon just hasn't been surrounded by comparable talent as Smart.
Gordon has just been in playoffs once and he did pretty well. He missed playing in playoffs this year due to hamstring injury. He was one of the Magic's best player in last years 4-1 series loss against the Raptors squad with Leonard etc that won the NBA championship. I would not be surprised if Aaron Gordon gets scapegoated for the Magic problems.
Celtics by getting Brown/Tatum/Hayward and even Walker have done that with Smart but Orlando didn't have a Nets like trade to bolster their roster.
They also made several questionable decisions since drafting Aaron Gordon:
• signing Biyombo to that large contract
• trading Oladipo and the pick that became Sabonis for Ibaka rental which became Ross & some Euro player
• mostly playing Gordon out of position because of poor roster construction
• drafting Hezonja and Bamba (TBD) -- Isaac with his injuries is just bad luck
• trading Tobias Harris to Detroit for cap space that became Biyombo, Jeff Green Jodie Meeks, etc
• coaching carousel -- Steve Clifford is Aaron Gordon's 5th coach
But agreed on your general point -- Smart landing with a more favorable situation/organization helped with his development.
