Boston Celtics 2020-21 individual players grades: Marcus Smart

Now that the 2020-21 Boston Celtics season is firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s possible to spend some time taking stock of how each player did with the opportunity he had.

To that end, we are grading every player who put in time on the basketball court for the Celtics this season, including all 15 members of the regular roster, both two-way players and the players the team cut or traded away. That’s 21 players altogether, and today’s focus is veteran guard Marcus Smart. The Flower mound native had a mixed bag of a year individually, but his team had arguably never needed the mix of skills he can bring to the table more than in 2020-21.

Let’s review how his season went with the Celtics, in context.

Offense

On one hand, Smart saw his 3-point percentage drop for the second season in a row to levels of efficiency (33%) that hardly make the shot worth taking. On the other, his overall efficiency rose to 39.8% overall while his shot attempts dropped as the Flower Mound native became more comfortable deferring to his All-Star wing teammates, scoring a career-high 13.1 points per game in the process. There's lots to fix in terms of shot selection and accuracy for Smart on this end of the court, but he seems to be settling into a role with this team that will set everyone up for success better. Grade: B- https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1412048675967283203?s=20

Defense

This might have been Smart's worst year on the side of the ball that has been his calling card since he came into the league, but we'll chalk some of it up to injury, and a little to chemistry issues not entirely under his control. Still, it was a definitive step back for the Oklahoma State product, and one that significantly lowered Boston's ceiling in 2020-21. We expect him to bounce back in a big way, but we could give him better than an average grade given his history and role. Grade: C https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1412074470081282054?s=20

Intangibles

Even in an off season for the longest-tenured Celtic, Smart had among his team's highest motors on a night-to-night basis, and more often than not was the first one on the ground after a loose ball, and the first one in the face of an opponent taking liberties with his teammates. But it was an off season for Smart, and he didn't quite bring the same intensity and focus we grew accustomed to -- perhaps even were spoiled by. The drop-off wasn't all that big, but big enough to notice. Grade: C+ https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1412093949112635395?s=20

Overall

We don't blame Smart for playing his way back into form after a calf injury kept him sidelined for a long stretch, nor for the sins of his teammates failing to match even his slightly diminished intensity and focus. And while we expect a better start with new voices, tactics and teammates to fix much of what ailed the Texan's team, our assessment for his 2020-21 season performance is a notch above what we'd consider a minimal success given everything he was dealing with. Grade: C+ This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=53352,53331,53307,53303] [listicle id=53345]

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