WALTHAM, Mass. — By all accounts, Marcus Smart had a pretty successful rookie campaign, and he built on that success with a strong showing in the summer league.
But if you ask the Boston Celtics guard, there’s still plenty he left on the table in Year 1.
Smart sprained his left ankle just five games into his rookie campaign. The Celtics’ sixth overall draft pick in 2014 only missed 14 games, but the injury still nagged at him throughout the 2014-15 season and into the playoffs.
With a full offseason dedicated to improving and healing up, though, Smart looks poised to enter his second season without any inhibitions.
“It impacted me a lot, just because I couldn’t really do what I’m capable of to help the team,” Smart said Friday when asked how his ankle injury affected him last season. “Even though I was still a decent defender, I felt like I could have gave more on the defensive end and on the offensive end, but I didn’t have that explosiveness to actually get out there and move around like I did when I was in college.”
The Oklahoma State product emerged as one of the team’s top defenders and was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team. Smart’s offense struggled at times, but the 21-year-old says he spent significant time in the offseason working to become a more dynamic offensive player.
“Me, personally, my explosiveness to the rim,” Smart said when asked on what he worked on the most this offseason. “I dealt with an ankle injury, but like I said, I’ve been working really hard with these guys, the team and coach Stevens on coming off the ball screen, getting in the paint and creating for others.”
The fruits of his labor certainly were on display this summer. Smart dominated during his two appearances in the Utah Summer League, leading all players in both points per game (24.0) and assists per game (7.5).
“Marcus had a great summer,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Friday. “Anybody that watched him play this summer can really see the jump that he made.”
Smart also dislocated two fingers during summer league play but insisted Friday his hand felt fine.
With his ankle back to full strength as well, the sky is the limit for how high Smart can leap in his sophomore season.
Have a Celtics/NBA question for Darren? Send it to him via Twitter at @darren_hartwell
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
