Patsfan1081 wrote:robdog_5 wrote:Love Smart as role player. Fearful we may see his market price him out. Especially if you feel Langford and possibly Neismith can legitimately start playing next year
He is a good role player, however he doesn’t believe himself to be one. Should have moved him when his value peaked, loosing another good player for nothing would be very frustrating.
I'll keep pointing out the obvious. 60-70% of the games Marcus has played in the last 4.5 years, we are missing one or more All-Star caliber 20-25ppg scorers. He has repeatedly been asked to step up above and beyond what he should have been, and we have won a ridiculously larger share of those games than we had any business doing, especially in the playoffs. The other 30-40% of the time, he stays in his lane. Overall, he is one of the very best players in the league at his price (non-rookie scale), and been a primary reason in winning dozens of games a year for several seasons now. In the two years we had Kyrie, Smart was more valuable. In the three years we had Hayward, Smart was more valuable. In the year and a half we've had Kemba, Smart has been more valuable.
100% of the problem with this team for years now is that we do not have elite talent on par with the elite teams. It's the lack of quality (and availability) among our stars, not our role players or coach. Period. Underline it. Read it again and again and again if needed, until it sinks in.