The Boston Celtics handed Marcus Smart a $77 million contract extension this past offseason. Which, in return, also handed the eight-year pro the keys to their backcourt. However, through 32 games, the Smart-lead guard experiment has undoubtedly left something to be desired. While he continues to be a pest on the defensive end and make positive plays offensively that doesn’t always show up in the boxscore, the longest-tenured Celtic is averaging his worst scoring output (10.9 points per game) since 2018 while his field goal (38.9) and 3-point percentage (28.5) waver around career lows.
“They don’t have that point guard on the roster right now,” Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney said of the Celtics’ backcourt situation on a December 19 airing of the CLNS Media’s “Celtics Beat” podcast. “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.”
Yet, while Smart may lack the offensive punch that the Celtics lineup is starved for, his other traits make him a presumed hot commodity on the trade market — and arguably the top trade chip on the roster not named Jaylen Brown. This is especially true for a potential suitor such as the Atlanta Hawks, who with All-Star Trae Young already at their disposal, have the scoring end of things pretty much covered.
Hawks Named Potential Suitors for Smart — Again
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the route that Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes the Hawks should take regarding Smart. At last year’s trade deadline, the two-time All-Defensive First-Team selection was heavily linked to Atlanta amid the Celtics’ rumored interest in Hawks big man John Collins and wing Bogdan Bogdanović. Yet, while all three players ultimately stayed put, Buckley notes that the Hawks should once again keep an eye on Smart this time around, naming the 27-year-old guard a potential trade target on Atlanta’s “#TradeSZN shopping list”:
Defense remains the focus for the Atlanta Hawks, who rank 22nd at that end — ahead of mostly rebuilders and whatever we’re labeling the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets as. That would be the main motivation for chasing any of these three players.
It’s possible Marcus Smart is out of their price range, but the Hawks had interest last season, per The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania, and presumably understood the steep cost then. If Atlanta had something to interest the Boston Celtics, it could bolster the backcourt with Smart, a bulldog defender who doubles as a decent ball-mover and willing (if not always able) outside shooter.
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Update on Smart
The Celtics will look to bounce back from their Christmas day defeat on Monday night when they face off with a Minnesota Timberwolves team sans staters Karl Anthony-Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards. However, much like Minnesota, the Celtics are also expected to be vastly shorthanded.
Smart, who suffered a right-hand laceration in the loss to the Bucks on Christmas, has been listed as questionable for the Timberwolves game. The team’s starting point guard joins a laundry list of Celtics players who could be sidelined. Star forward Jayson Tatum was added to the NBA Health & Safety Protocols on Monday, making him the ninth player on the Celtics roster dealing with COVID-19 issues. Here’s the entire list via the team’s injury report:
- Jayson Tatum (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Bruno Fernando (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Enes Freedom (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Justin Jackson (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- C.J. Miles (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Aaron Nesmith (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Josh Richardson (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Dennis Schroder (Health & Safety Protocols) – OUT
- Grant Williams (Health & Safety Protocols) – QUESTIONABLE
Thankfully, Williams, Al Horford and Sam Hauser are expected to return to action after clearing protocol, giving Boston a big boost along their frontcourt.
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Longest-Tenured Celtic Named ‘Trade Target’ for Eastern Conference Rival