Author Archives: @jared_scali

Marcus Smart’s Value Won’t Stare You in the Face

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The 4th Quarter Hero

Anyone who watches the Boston Celtics has some sort of opinion on Marcus Smart. Mostly you’ll see negative views. “He can’t shoot, why is he playing instead of Rozier?”. The list goes on.

However, his value is there. It just won’t always be on the stat sheet. Take the end of the Houston game as an example:

Why He’s Here When Celtics Win Banner 18

Marcus Smart makes plays in the 4th quarter that win games. If it wasn’t for Smart drawing the first offensive foul, there was a good chance Houston would have won. Al Horford would never have had the chance to score that winning basket.

So, that begs the question: why do so many people want him traded? Simply because he can’t shoot? I agree that he isn’t a good shooter. Currently, he’s shooting 33.8% from the floor and 30.7% from behind the arc. He is a 72% free throw shooter. Not someone you’d want taking a shot late in the 4th quarter, or at all.

That’s why Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Jason Tatum and a ton of other guys are here. The biggest thing is to let Smart play in the late minutes to do what he did against Houston.

Now, if you told me Smart had to be involved in a trade for someone like Anthony Davis, then okay. I’d be the first person to say “smell you later” and drive him to Logan. However, that deal probably isn’t coming.

This group of guys, along with Gordon Hayward, will win multiple titles while in Celtic Green. Anything else would be a disappointment. Marcus Smart will be on that roster. I agree I’d like to see Terry Rozier get more minutes for how he plays. That being said, Marcus Smart is a key cog to what makes this Celtics team run. A defense-first attitude and doesn’t care who he has to guard.

 

Marcus Smart NBA Champion with the 2018-19 Boston Celtics.

Anthony Davis Just Wants to Win, but Will It Be in Boston?

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Does Anthony Davis Want Out?

Adrian Wojnarowski sat down with Anthony Davis for a story on ESPN. He shed some light on the superstar’s situation in the Big Easy.

Everyone knows that Danny Ainge covets Davis and will pounce if he’s available. However, will he be?

One thing was extremely clear when reading Davis’ quotes. He wants to win more than anything:

“You look at the Warriors, Cleveland, Boston,” he said. “They lose Gordon [Hayward], they’re still playing well. KD-Steph-Draymond-Klay. They play so well with each other, move the basketball and don’t care who scores. Steph and Draymond are out, and they still won. KD is out. They still win.”

Davis in Celtic Green is a long shot and we all know it. However, Davis has concerns with the Pelicans being loyal after seeing what has conspired around the league. IT, who was traded by the Celtics and Demarcus Cousins traded from the Kings to name a few. Woj goes on to mention that Davis knows he’s on the Celtics radar:

Davis remains an obsession of several NBA teams full of the necessary trade assets to unfasten him from New Orleans, should the Pelicans ever consider a rebuild — or should Davis ever request a trade. Boston has remained vigilant on the possibility of acquiring Davis, and Davis knows it. However, the Pelicans have no intention of trading an all-world talent under contract through 2021, no matter the return.

Going through the full article tells me two things. One, it doesn’t seem like the Pelicans want to deal the superstar anytime soon. Two, it might not matter. If Davis simply cares about winning and nothing else, then what’s stopping him from demanding a trade. When you see a star like Davis talking about The Celtics, Warriors and other winning teams, it shows envy.

He wants to win.

So, even though it’s a long shot, Davis could be in a Boston Celtics uniform. He might play next to Kyrie, Horford, and Gordon Hayward… but he might have to ask.