Marcus Smart does plenty of good on the basketball court. He remains a scrappy defender, leading the NBA in steals with 64. For the most part, he meshes well with the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown offensively and readily makes positive plays that don’t show up in the boxscore.
However, despite those positives, he’s been unable to move the needle much for a Celtics team that continues to hover around a .500 record. The $77 million contract extension he inked this offseason may have penciled him in as the team’s lead guard. Yet, two-plus months into the regular season and the jury very much remains out on whether he’s best suited for said role.
While he hasn’t been an outright catastrophe running the show in Boston (far from it), the Celtics are stuck in neutral and according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, a change at point guard could be the boost the team needs to get things rolling. Deveney joined Adam Kaufman on a December 19 airing of the CLNS Media’s “Celtics Beat” podcast to discuss the current limitations in Boston’s backcourt.
“They don’t have that point guard on the roster right now. I think that’s the real problem here… I think to have them [Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown] though, you’re going to have to have somebody who can initiate that drive into the paint. We just don’t have that on this team right now,” said Deveney.
Is De’Aaron Fox the ‘Ideal’ Answer at Point Guard for the Celtics?
Smart is far from the game-changing offensive talent the Cs have had at the position in years past, from a spry Isaiah Thomas to Kyrie Irving to the 2020 All-Star version of Kemba Walker. In fact, he’s not even the most potent offensive threat at the position on this current Celtics roster. That honor of course goes to Dennis Schroder, whose 16.3 points per game ranks third on the team.
“Yeah, Smart is a guy who does have value around the league. I think one of the problems the Celtics have had is they’ve asked him to do some things that he’s not really qualified to do. I don’t think he’s a starting point guard,” Deveney proclaimed. “I think he’s… a fantastic sixth-man, bulldog off the bench type.”
With Smart seemingly playing out of position, Deveney highlighted one hot name on the trade market that could help bolster things in the backcourt.
“De’Aaron Fox would be the ideal guy,” he said. “And Sacramento, whether they blow it up remains to be seen. They probably should, and that includes De’Aaron Fox.”
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What Would a Deal for Fox Look Like?
On December 17, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon joined “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” where he reported that he’s heard “a lot of smoke” regarding Sacramento’s openness to trading Fox. The Kings have undergone quite an overhaul in recent years. Vlade Divac, the general manager who selected Fox four years back, stepped down from his role in February 2020. Since then, the team has used two lottery picks on guards; Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell. They also fired head coach Luke Walton back in November after a 6-11 start.
With Fox appearing to be at least semi-obtainable, what might the Celtics be able to package to potentially entice the Kings to move off of the 24-year-old point guard?
“You package [Smart] at $14 million this year. Richardson at $11 million. He’s got just the one year next year so that’s a pretty movable contract,” said Deveney. “You’ve got Hernangomez at $7 million. Now you’re up to $32 million, so if you want to get somebody like a De’Aaron Fox, or you know [Bradley] Beal. I don’t think they’ll go that direction. But now you’re in the ballpark where you can start talking about those players if you package the first-round picks with them.”
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Celtics Urged to Replace Marcus Smart With 24-Year-Old $163 Million Point Guard