http://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/02/03/report-marcus-smart-available-for-first-round-pick/ The Boston Celtics have some decisions to make. After adding Greg Monroe to the team yesterday, the Celtics may not be done dealing. And according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, they could be convinced to part ways with a core member of their team, Marcus Smart. “You talk about Marcus Smart, he’s a player that’s available for a first round pick. If a team was willing to give Boston a first, Boston would look at,” Woj said in the latest edition of his podcast with Bobby Marks. “If they didn’t have to take back a lot of money going out in the future. He’s restricted this summer, you don’t know what it will cost to keep him.” “He’s proven he can help you win a playoff game or two. He doesn’t shoot great from 3-point line, some of the things you want from a guard in this day and age. He defends, he’s super competitive. But they can’t pay everybody in Boston and they’re going to have to make decisions. But does a team want to give up a first for a player when they don’t know what it will cost to keep him. I’m not sure that will happen. But I think certainly if they were going to make a move with one of their core guys, there’s potential that it’s going to be Smart.” Marks then tried to peg his value. “When you trade a first for a player when you know he’s restricted, you’ll have a qualifying offer, you usually have to exceed what you pay him,” Marks said. “For a team that is interested in Marcus Smart you better be doing your homework on the market this summer, figure out what other guards are going to be out there and what would be a home for him. I have a hard time if it’s not Boston, where else is there a home. Two years ago he would be a player who would be getting $13-15 million, now you’re looking in that $8-10 range.” So, the Celtics may not be able to keep Smart. But as Marks has trouble finding a home for the physical guard outside of Boston, where could that be? One hypothetical destination that comes to mind is the Portland Trail Blazers, who the Celtics host on Sunday. Whether they’d be willing to give up a first round pick is debatable, but Smart would add some extra defensive prowess to the duo of CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard. Smart has shown no problems playing up a position and also has a knack for guarding bigger players. Maurice Harkless, a 6-9 forward, has not played much for the Blazers this season and is under contract for two more seasons after this one. He fits the type of switchability the Celtics are aiming to have across the board. But it remains to be seen whether his contract, two more years at $10.3 million and $11 million, is what the Celtics are looking for. But if a pick is on the table, the Celtics would at least listen to deals for Smart.
Watch Out. Looks like an Evan Turner trap. If he could play SF only then could possibilities be on the table.
Smart doesn’t fit our shooting needs, but I’ve always liked his competitiveness. If he really can be signed for $8m how about Vonleh/Layman? I doubt they get a first for him.
I think we need shooting more then we need D. Especially since unless we have a salary dump adding more salary this off season doesn't seem like a great idea.
I think we need both and probably will have to get each when we can. I would think it is easier to draft a shooter than a defender these days, so we would have to get Smart w/o using the 1st round pick. Or use the pick for him then trade CJ to Cleveland for Love and the Brooklyn pick.
While Smart for Harkless and a 1st is intriguing simply from a financial perspective, it doesn't work so there would have to be another player coming here with Smart. The player coming back would have to be either Semi Ojeleye (which we should say yes to immediately), Shane Larkin (Not sure if they'd trade two guards for a forward with Kyrie's knee acting up), or Guerschon Yabusele (Do we really need another PF? I guess if this is the deal we'd still do it). This kind of move would get the Blazers under the Luxury Tax Line so it's a real possibility but I don't see them trading for yet another RFA when they already have four of them on the roster and one UFA. It might make more sense if they traded Vonleh and Napier in other deals too.
Look at Turner, Bradley, Crowder, and Thomas after they left Boston. They all declined. If Smart isn't already producing in Boston, he won't outside of there. He's one of the most overrated players in this league IMO, and Blazer fans would hate having him.
If we trade CJ for Love and the Brooklyn pick i'd love to trade a first for smart. We would then need to do a deal for a shooter because our shooting would take a huge hit though.
Stevens is a great coach. He definitely seems to get the most out of players and they decline when going elsewhere. Not sure I'd want someone they are willing to move....especially one who can't shoot.
A sign of a great coach and GM is moving players just before they start the decline...Stevens is a sharp cookie..Danny Ainge is no slouch either
Love, when healthy, would be the shooter. CJ is more of a scorer than a shooter. I think Love could also be a scorer if he includes a post up game like he did in his early years. I just want to point out I have nothing against CJ but believe he and Lillard are not a great combo. Both are scorers and need the ball in their hands and that is a hard thing to win with especially when neither really sets up others nor plays great defense. If you look at GS, they have great scorers but just as good of shooters which their key to being so tough. They also have the ability to set each other up.
Loves ability to shoot from the 4 position is great but That would still leave us at times with 2 or 3 players who aren't a threat to shoot on the floor in ET/Nurk/Smart. I feel that we would need to add another player who can play the 3 and a little bit of the 2 so that we aren't screwed on spacing like we have seen in the past.
I'm not sure where this myth started that Evan Turner was great in Boston and became not worth the contract Portland gave him only after leaving Brad Stevens. Many of us were down on the contract the moment it was given, before Turner played a single minute away from Stevens, because he was a thoroughly mediocre player his entire career. The only number out of line during his Boston years was Defense Rating, and that's known to be heavily influenced by the team defense around a player. It was strong when surrounded by a strong defensive team and tanked when he joined a poor team defense. The other main outlier was that his turnover rate spiked in his Boston years. Likewise, Avery Bradley isn't playing much out of step this year with his Boston career. He's dropped off from last season, but his last season or two look like career bests, they're not representative of his four-year Boston stint under Brad Stevens. Mostly, he seems to have become less efficient as more of a primary initiator, which is to be expected. The same story is generally true of Jae Crowder--last season is out of step with the rest of his Boston years, so he's being measured as though a fluke season were his baseline. The only player who's clearly a worse player right now than when in Boston is Isiah Thomas and it's pretty obvious why--he's damaged goods, which was well known. He hasn't gotten back to his previous level of athleticism and may never. I don't think there's any mystical "Brad Stevens effect." Outside of an injury case in Thomas, Boston basically sold high on role-players who had recently had career years (and Olshey for some reason thought Evan Turner was good, despite not even coming off a fluke year). The reason I wouldn't be all that interested in Smart is because he's a typical Boston role-player: good defense, bad offense, no spacing. I don't think he's going to get worse when he leaves Brad Stevens--I think he's going to remain the same. That's the problem. I don't want a slightly better version of Evan Turner, even if he's paid less. Portland needs players who can actually shoot (while not embarrassing themselves on defense).
Oh I agree totally on that. I just meant for right now I would make those moves. The off season would requires some retooling of positions including adding 2 shooters or a shooter and a scorer. I agree they are missing scoring options with this team and replacing CJ with Love wouldn't fix that. It would help defensively though adding Smart over CJ and having Love rebound with Nurk while moving Aminu back to SF and just let him play defense or come off the bench. No matter what they or don't do they need a better SF.
yeah, he's a good defender but awful shooter and an RFA as well who wants to get paid this summer, not a good idea
