Do the Boston Celtics need to trade Marcus Smart to ‘break up their core’?

It is fair to say that veteran Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart is a polarizing figure, with some seeing the proverbial glass as half full, and the others blaming the Flower Mound native for the Celtics’ shortcomings in the half-empty point of view.

The latter perspective is canon for Boston Globe columnist Christopher L. Gasper, who believed the Celtics need to ship out the former No. 6 pick for a player who changes the team’s fortunes in a way that echoes the anonymous sources of a recent, controversial Tim Bontemps piece on ESPN. To his credit, however, Gasper isn’t afraid to attach his name to his own controversial take.

“Where are the Celtics headed on the road to Banner No. 18? Nowhere fast. They’re the proverbial hoops hamster on the wheel of NBA contention. Round and round they go, staying in the same place,” opens the Globe columnist.

“Following Wednesday night’s rock fight of a win over the 76ers, the Celtics stand at 50-50 in their last 100 games — including the play-in and the playoffs last season,” adds Gasper. “Perfectly average.”

“The time is nearing for Change, Big C, instead of the tinkering the Celtics have engaged in the last few seasons,” he continues.

“The reality is that the core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart looks maxed out. The Celtics have to break it up and break the cycle.”

In a sense, Smart is something of a representation of the team as a whole in this way given the team has also polarized regarding its future.

As with the ESPN piece, there is truth here. After major talent drains under the team’s previous regime, the franchise has underwhelmed through a combination of less-than-ideal responses to said talent drains and bad luck.

Now, with a new head coach with all that entails, there seems to be a pressure for immediate gratification, with the sins of the departed used as evidence.

And while it does seem to be the case that the current iteration of the Celtics is indeed somewhere n the middle of the pack, there have also been largely constant signs of growth buttressed by better decisions made with the tools available that in truth have not been given an earnest chance to show out.

In fairness to Gasper, this is acknowledged; “Smart is not the reason the Celtics are mired in mediocrity,” he explains. “He just has the misfortune of being the most talented, expendable piece.”

Given the necessity of trying to see what works with the team’s core of All-Star forwards in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, there’s really nothing especially controversial about this statement.

But we disagree with some of the other framing of the Globe columnist, which claims awareness of the inner thoughts of Smart via circumstantial evidence.

“His heart and hustle are undeniable, but so are his shaky outside shooting (28.8 percent from three this season), inflated ego, and volatile mien,” suggests Gasper, and he may have a point, at least in the past — much of the complaints here have not materialized this season apart from the inefficiency.

“He yearns to turn a Big Two into a Big Three,” continues the claim, and to this, we have to vehemently disagree.

Smart’s allegiance to team basketball and desire to win as a team is so powerful it can at times be its own problem, perhaps even to the point of having accepted roles with Boston that did not accentuate his play in terms of producing winning basketball.

Now thrust into more of the role he expected coming out of Oklahoma State as more of a pure point guard, he has shot fewer heat check disasters earl in the clock, has blown up less often, and has picked his shots well — they just have not gone in.

It is fair to say he may not be the ideal player in his best role to maximize the future of this team alongside the Jays, but that has more to do with who becomes available and what their teams want than anything Smart has done on the court of late.

These critiques seem unfair, especially given how the team has responded to his words being referenced above in comments that, while perhaps in an ill-advised venue, were more about the predictability of the offense and less about his role in it. And despite the risk his words had to destabilize things in such a venue, to date, they seem to have helped with Boston winning more than they have lost since.

We do not disagree that there is a need for change with this team if it is to hang banners again any time soon, and it is undeniably true Smart is at the top of the list of options simply due to his contract structure and skillset.

But we have to respectfully disagree that the longest-tenured Celtic is necessarily a slam-dunk to be on the move come the trade deadline, even if you disagree with our assessment of his growth this season.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

[lawrence-related id=65556,65550,65548,65546]

[listicle id=65551]

[vertical-gallery id=65476]

1

1