If It Is To Be Said. So It Be. So It Is. The First Deadline Trade Thread.

[Celts17Pride]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

[Curmudgeon]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

Well, let's see what happens on Friday in Atlanta. Of course the Hawks are not known for their defensive tenacity either.

[Feed Your Head]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

[Curmudgeon]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

Some of that happened when Smart was on the bench. Go watch the game again.

[Celts17Pride]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

Well, let's see what happens on Friday in Atlanta. Of course the Hawks are not known for their defensive tenacity either.

I get your point but the Kings are 28th in defense and the Hawks are 29th in defense in a 30 team league

[pac213up]

I don't think the line between winning and losing is all that big with this team. The Jays and Rob (assuming good health) are legit. Smart offers good balance but you need to make up for his shooting, especially when Rob's on the floor with him. Keeping all those guys and adding (or developing) legit shooting depth is what this teams needs to do.

[Feed Your Head]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

Some of that happened when Smart was on the bench. Go watch the game again.

Of course some happened when Smart was on the bench, but 24 of the 31 minutes Tatum played was with Smart on the floor.

He gets doubled no matter what, what I care about is he’s making quicker decisions when trapped, and the other guys are actually moving off the ball. Which I am always one of the first to point out, is usually led by Smart. He brings out the best in Tatum, IMO.

[greenroom31]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

Yeah, using a single game (especially a massive blowout) as a data point to prove a player's value is laughable.

Smart CAN be helpful some games when he consistently penetrates, but plenty of other times he is sloppy with the ball or just hangs out in the corner and defers too much. The numbers are what they are -- he's 5.3 AST/2.1 TO this year which is a step back from last year.

[Curmudgeon]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

Some of that happened when Smart was on the bench. Go watch the game again.

Of course some happened when Smart was on the bench, but 24 of the 31 minutes Tatum played was with Smart on the floor.

He gets doubled no matter what, what I care about is he’s making quicker decisions when trapped, and the other guys are actually moving off the ball. Which I am always one of the first to point out, is usually led by Smart. He brings out the best in Tatum, IMO.

OK. we're in agreement. Smart brings out the best in Tatum-- and Brown too.

[Feed Your Head]

Some of that happened when Smart was on the bench. Go watch the game again.

Of course some happened when Smart was on the bench, but 24 of the 31 minutes Tatum played was with Smart on the floor.

He gets doubled no matter what, what I care about is he’s making quicker decisions when trapped, and the other guys are actually moving off the ball. Which I am always one of the first to point out, is usually led by Smart. He brings out the best in Tatum, IMO.

OK. we're in agreement. Smart brings out the best in Tatum-- and Brown too.

I don’t share much inside info here, but Tatum is very aware of this fact. Same with how JT feels about Rob, he really appreciates playing with both of them.

[jeremym480]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

More ball movement and off-ball movement all around would be great. We need Ime to remember the offense during his days as an assistant coach for the 13-14 Spurs rather than his days as an assistant coach for the 20-21 Brooklyn Nets... then again a coach can only do so much, the players still have to make the right plays and make their shots. That may be a little too much to ask out of most of our guys right now but I believe they can get there.

[zoyathedestroya]

Tatum got double teamed just as much as usual last night, he was just quick passing out of them, and other guys moved off ball.

We can point out all the good Smart brings without making things up.

More ball movement and off-ball movement all around would be great. We need Ime to remember the offense during his days as an assistant coach for the 13-14 Spurs rather than his days as an assistant coach for the 20-21 Brooklyn Nets... then again a coach can only do so much, the players still have to make the right plays and make their shots. That may be a little too much to ask out of most of our guys right now but I believe they can get there.

When we started the game with Tatum and Smart screening for each other offball then Tatum setting a back screen for Rob rumbling towards the rim, I was excited off the bat. It immediately caused confusion with the Kings defense that led to an open three by Tatum (Smart assists). We need more non-ATO versions/variations of that.

[ddb]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

yeah, can you imagine if the PG was a threat to actually score from inside & out? Listen, I like Marcus Smart and always have. I understand, like most of us, the type of impact he has on games. He's incredible defensively. He plays hard. But the fact of the matter remains that he needs to be coming off the bench as the Swiss army 6th or 7th man. period. you ARE NOT winning a championship with him as the starting point guard...

[Fencer reregistered]

Smart puts Tatum and Brown into positions where they don't get double teamed, in part because teams have to respect Smart's penetration ability and passing.

That's worth 20 ppg by itself. Notice that when Smart plays, Brown and Tatum's turnovers significantly decline. On Sunday Tatum had one and Brown had two. Last night Tatum had two and Brown had zero.

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

yeah, can you imagine if the PG was a threat to actually score from inside & out? Listen, I like Marcus Smart and always have. I understand, like most of us, the type of impact he has on games. He's incredible defensively. He plays hard. But the fact of the matter remains that he needs to be coming off the bench as the Swiss army 6th or 7th man. period. you ARE NOT winning a championship with him as the starting point guard...

Smart's numbers are akin to those of the starting PG the last time the Celtics won a championship.

[ddb]

Tatum/Brown/Timelord/Smart/Richardson in that order have established themselves as the best/most important players on the team. Which means Brad needs to find a way to bring in 2 new guys that can give Boston a championship caliber Top 7.

Horford/Nesmith/1st to Portland for Powell/Nance JR (not sure Portland does this)

Schroder to Denver for Jeff Green. (not sure Denver would do that)

Smart-Powell-Brown-Tatum-Williams
Pritchard-Richardson-Green-Grant-Nance JR
Romeo-Kanter

[ddb]

I agree with you but last night the Celtics were playing the Kings. Kings not exactly known for their defensive tenacity.

yeah, can you imagine if the PG was a threat to actually score from inside & out? Listen, I like Marcus Smart and always have. I understand, like most of us, the type of impact he has on games. He's incredible defensively. He plays hard. But the fact of the matter remains that he needs to be coming off the bench as the Swiss army 6th or 7th man. period. you ARE NOT winning a championship with him as the starting point guard...

Smart's numbers are akin to those of the starting PG the last time the Celtics won a championship.

The last time the Celtics won a championship they had the DPOTY still dominating in Kevin Garnett, prime Paul Pierce, and still an All-Star & one of the greatest shooters of all-time in Ray Allen. 3 HOFers. Rondo, statistically may be akin to Smart this year, but Rondo was a young up-and-coming star himself....so not quite the same at all. Let's also not forget that Sam Cassell played some important minutes on that team.

[CelticFaninLBC]

I asked him if Bogdanovic and Conley are coming and he says it's not that pack.

Can't see a deal unless Conley's coming back in return. Although, Conley's a gamble due to his age, but he'd really help with his playmaking and shooting on offense.

[GoGreen]

Marcus won't be missed that much if he does go, my goodness. He's a nice 6th man and can do some nice things for a winning team, but let's take it down a notch yall.

[Curmudgeon]

yeah, can you imagine if the PG was a threat to actually score from inside & out? Listen, I like Marcus Smart and always have. I understand, like most of us, the type of impact he has on games. He's incredible defensively. He plays hard. But the fact of the matter remains that he needs to be coming off the bench as the Swiss army 6th or 7th man. period. you ARE NOT winning a championship with him as the starting point guard...

Well, that depends on the quality of the rest of the team, yes?
Smart is better as the 6th man. But he's not bad as the starting point guard. It's how many points the team scores, not any individual.

[Andrew McCeltic]

I don't understand trading Smart unless you're getting back someone who can be more impactful over the next 4.5 years. Brunson, White, THT.. or someone who can start at the 4, with a replacement point guard in another trade. It makes no sense to trade for a 32 year old like Bogdanovic.