Editor’s note: As the Boston Celtics head into the offseason, NESN.com takes a closer look at each player on the roster in an effort to determine who will stick around for next season and who will wind up elsewhere.
Next up: Marcus Smart.
The Celtics’ roster is full of players who very well could be flipped in Danny Ainge’s ongoing quest to lure a big fish — or two — to Boston.
And then, there’s Marcus Smart.
While by no means a perfect or even fully developed player, Smart is Boston’s one untouchable asset– the rock around which Ainge will attempt to build a championship contender.
Smart’s rookie season was a mixed bag. The 21-year-old point guard and sixth overall pick was a bulldog on the defensive end — his 1.5 steals per game ranked third among all first-year players — but he struggled from an offensive standpoint, posting a 36.7 percent field-goal percentage that placed him dead last among Celtics rotation players.
In other words, he came exactly as advertised.
So, where does Smart, who earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie second team, go from here? Improving his shooting is an obvious first step, and he did make strides in that area late in the season, shooting field goals at a 42.4 percent clip over the final month of the regular season and 48.3 percent in Boston’s four-game playoff series loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There’s also the fact that Smart rarely handled point-guard duties this season despite starting 37 games at the position. That task typically fell to swingman Evan Turner, as neither Smart nor shooting guard Avery Bradley are particularly adept at running an offense.
That worked fine given the way the Celtics currently are constructed — sixth man Isaiah Thomas was the primary ball-handler when he was on the court — but for Smart to stick around the starting lineup if and when the team adds the pieces necessary to contend, he’ll need to develop into more than just a defensive whiz.
Luckily for him, the Celtics should afford him plenty of time to do so.
Up next: Jared Sullinger
Previously: Chris Babb, Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Luigi Datome, Jonas Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
