Marcus Smart

Smart is a positive player who makes a big impact. We need every single one of the rotation players to produce to have any chance of stealing the title.

He will either get better at shooting or that's that.

The angle I'm coming from is this:

Show me the money: The state of the Warriors salary cap going forward; Can the Warriors keep it together?

I am clueless with the salary cap, luxury tax and how super teams proceed. I'd love to see an article like this applied to Boston. Baynes is also a free agent. To keep both of them could add up to a super max all-star contract. We already have three guys making the big bucks.

This interests me since the rebuild is over and it looks good for finally contending. But there is this money part also and I'd like to know what to expect somewhat. So when Danny eventually makes more moves, it'll add up. I'll be able to understand his motives. It'll make sense what his options and limitations are.

Adrian Wojnarowski
Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
Sources: Robert Covington and 76ers finalizing framework of a 4-year, $62M contract extension. I'll have more details on NBA Countdown at 7 PM ET.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 15 minutes ago
$15.5m AAV for Covington (and Gary Harris’ $21m) will have an impact setting the market for guys like Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley.



bob


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The article says GS should be able to enjoy Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson for years to come, but it assumes having those four guys offsets garbage for the rest of the future roster.

They are going to have to get lucky with young scrubs and solid veterans who will take the minimum.

The writer makes it seem like their empire will last indefinitely based on four players.

No one thought Cleveland would start to slide this soon. The same could happen to Golden State. And if not, we're only going to have to worry about beating four stars and a bunch of scrubs in about two years.

We could beat them right now. Some make it seem impossible for anyone but Golden State. No one knows. Even if they kick our butts tomorrow night, I won't back down.

The Celtics have arrived.

We'd have known that sooner if there wasn't so much hype and spin.

I thought LeBron was already slowing down last year. I thought Kyrie was clearly the better player of the two from watching the playoffs.

Teams are not about one or four players.

Marcus Smart is an enigma.

We cannot live with him but we cannot live without him.  He can throw up bricks all game long but then on the defensive side of the ball he makes plays that NOBODY makes.

I was expecting him to be a more efficient score this year and I have not given up on that yet.  

I feel that this is a make it or brake it year for him.  Danny passed on extending him because Danny is not certain that he wants to resign him and/or he is not sure what the market value for Smart is.  If Marcus Smart does not show improvement this year he will not be with the Celtics next season.  His numbers have flatlined.

Smart plays starter minutes at 30.6 per game.  At the ripe old age of 23 he is a leader for this team.   He is able to anchor the defense but is still a remarkably poor shot maker.  He takes too many ill advised shots.  His 3 point shooting has not improved and unfortunately it has actually gotten worse.  I almost cannot believe the numbers but Marcus is shooting .281% on FG and .276% on 3 pointers.  He is taking slightly more 3 point shots than he was last year.  Through 8 games in November his shooting woes are even worse (.243% and .258% (Yikes!)

The real question that needs to be answered is whether or not Marcus's defense and other intangibles outweigh the negative offense he provides.  He has average PG skills and rarely pushes the ball up the court. There are too many empty offesnsive possessions because he misses far too many shots.

Danny is still working to make this team the best that they can be.  He cannot rely on Marcus to bring offense off the bench.  Terry Rozier is not that much better than Marcus.  Even if Morris moves to the bench we still need another reliable scorer if Boston wants to compete for a title this year.   Danny should look to add more offense off of the bench to offset the lack of offense coming from Smart and others.

Discussions about Smart are always touchy subjects.  Some people love him and some people don't.  I probably fall somewhere in the middle.  

There have been a lot of players that I really liked and some that I didn't.  Danny has an hour glass and when your time runs out you will not be here.  

dboss

This talk about Marcus shooting two's and three's reminds me of an experience my college roommate Jim had. We were required to take Calculus and Physics freshman year, and Jim was called into the Dean's office for failing both.

"Jim," the Dean asked," how can you possibly explain getting a 30 in Calculus and a 17 in Physics?"

"Well," he answered, "I was always better in math than I was in science."

Jim went on to graduate with a degree in theater, composed several #1 songs and albums on the Billboard charts, became a multi-millionaire six years out of college, wrote and produced plays on Broadway and the London stage, and was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame.

Despite his horrible shooting and tendency to take way too many shots, Marcus stands a damn good chance to have a great career. His price tag will determine if that will be as a Celtic.

worcester wrote:This talk about Marcus shooting two's and three's reminds me of an experience my college roommate Jim had. We were required to take Calculus and Physics freshman year, and Jim was called into the Dean's office for failing both.

"Jim," the Dean asked," how can you possibly explain getting a 30 in Calculus and a 17 in Physics?"

"Well," he answered, "I was always better in math than I was in science."

Jim went on to graduate with a degree in theater, composed several #1 songs and albums on the Billboard charts, became a multi-millionaire six years out of college, wrote and produced plays on Broadway and the London stage, and was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame.

Despite his horrible shooting and tendency to take way too many shots, Marcus stands a damn good chance to have a great career. His price tag will determine if that will be as a Celtic.

LOL, that's a funny parable, and with his prowess in math, he's counting his money on his way to the bank.

mrkleen09 wrote:We need to remember the dollar amounts are less important than the % of Cap Space, period.  Some players who renewed this year were overpaid - next year a similar player will likely make less.  That is the ebb and flow of contracts and cap changes.

At some point this season, we will be able to identify our core and who are complimentary players that are interchangeable for others if their salary becomes untenable.  

This is the basis of any business, you slot in a number for your 6th, 7th, 8th man and that is there the discussion begins (or in the case of a team like the Patriots - where it ends)  

This has literally nothing to do with his shooting - it has to do with what he does well and who else is out there in a similar price range.  If you look at the market - Marcus is in the 10-14 million a year category.  So it comes down to what else is out there at that price range and is that player more impactful than Smart.  Austin Rivers makes 12 million dollars a year. Let that sink in for a minute.

If you think Alec Burks, Dion Waiters, Patty Mills, Iman Shumpert, Tony Snell or Terence Ross have more upside than Marcus - they you give that 12 million per to one of them.  

I would take Marcus Smart over almost anyone in the 10-14 million a year category in the league.  And that is the kind of math Danny Ainge needs to do.

+1

per/36 min  assists to t.o.
2017-18
Smart  6.5   2.6
Rozier  3.3   1.0
Larkin  4.6   1.1

Larkin is the purer pg? I like Marcus Smart, but Swish is right it's too early to know. It's scary. Maybe he'll be a playoff/t.v. Rondo starting tonight. He needs to slow down the game and concentrate or let flow some more efficient results or Danny can see the stats above including 28% shooting. Yikes?

I mean sure, he's good to great at everything else. The best games are when he's on fire.

Seriously, hit some easier shots to get a bit of confidence. Wait for the best shots and drives. Don't overthink it, but have fun and shoot them like you can in practice. Or stop taking threes or practice them more before cranking them up.

It's annoying but he's due a breakout game and more consistency. The team is still gelling and working out kinks.