Should Boston Be Looking at J.R Smith?

Should the Boston Celtics be looking at the best remaining free agent in J.R Smith?

Now that the free agency craze has simmered down and almost any free agent worth looking at has been signed, there remains one player that should continue to draw attention, J.R Smith. Looking to add another guard may be redundant for the Boston Celtics and could threaten the progress of their young core. That being said, an unconscious and aggressive three point shooter is something the Celtics could find tremendous value in. The biggest question is if he is worth his value to the Celtics.

As they are right now, the Celtics have a core of guards that they can be successful with. They lost Evan Turner, but with both Terry Rozier and R.J Hunter entering their second season, the hope is that they have the depth to replace him. The Celtics also know that none of the guards on their team are a finished product. Isaiah Thomas is the senior member, and he is just 27 years old.

The Celtics have youth and promise and with the long term future in mind, it may be wise to stay away from Smith no matter what kind of contract he would command. The problem, however, is that the Celtics are no longer thinking strictly about the long term. Danny Ainge has proven that he will be patient, but elevated expectations in the eastern conference could adjust the attitude.

Even if it means taking valuable minutes away from Rozier or Hunter, there is no guard on the Celtics’ second unit that can approach Smith’s three point shooting ability, and the former winner of sixth man of the year could flourish with a second unit that needs a go to scorer and play maker.

If the Celtics did go after Smith, some may want him in the starting lineup, but I would not count on that. There is no way he would take the place of Thomas, who has proven that he can be much more than just a shooter. Avery Bradley would be the one that would have to worry, but his impact on the defensive end blows Smith’s away, while being a capable shooter. Bradley may not have the high end offensive potential that Smith has, but his familiarity with their offense and lock down defense is far too valuable.

One benefit to being on the second unit with the Celtics is that does not necessarily mean he will have a significantly reduced role. Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart and Turner had three of the most significant roles on the Celtics last year, and they did it off the bench. Stevens loves to use many different lineups, and even if Smith would not be a starter, he could continue to get the kind of minutes he has received over the last few seasons.

The great appeal to Smith is that they need his shooting and they need his aggressiveness. Smith’s tendency to jack up shots is often seen as a negative, but on an offense that always pushes the pace and embraces the volume of opportunities, a lot of those bad shots will not be as negative for a team that is already used to accommodating a lot of missed opportunities.

For the amount of criticism Smith receives for taking ill advised shots, he has consistently shot well from three throughout his career. Smith has been above 35% in each of his last 6 seasons, and hit the 40% mark for the second time in his career last year, on a career high 504 three point attempts.

Bottom line is that Smith would immediately be one of the Celtics’ best three point shooters, and would immediately be the best offensive option off the bench. The problem would lie in his defense. While Smart and Rozier cannot begin to approach Smith’s shooting, he may lack the defensive intensity and impact that made the Celtics so successful last year. As good of a shooter that Smith has been over the last six years, in none of those seasons did he have a positive defensive box plus minus.

The Celtics know that they have better defensive options already on their roster, and with the way they have favoured defense over offense on their roster in the Brad Stevens era, it may be a long shot to expect the Celtics to pay him. while Smith would not command a  max contract, he would likely be right behind Horford on the Celtics’ pay role, and that could also threaten their long term outlook.

There is no doubting that Smith’s shooting could do wonders for one of the worst shooting teams in the league from a season ago. With the freedom he would be given on a second unit that is lacking in a clear cut ball handler, he would have an opportunity to repeat the success he had s a sixth man in New York.

Next season, adding Smith certainly makes the Celtics a better team, and would solidify them as a clear cut top three team in the east. That being said, players coach and GM have made it clear that the Celtics are still a few pieces away. The Celtics would not go after Smith with the idea that he would be the difference maker in establishing them as true contenders right now.

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Ultimately, the potential long term harm of adding Smith will be too much for the Celtics. The Celtics have a core of guards that they believe in, and they have good reason to believe in them. Smith may be the better option right now, but after Rozier’s improvement this offseason, it would be more wise to keep the long term future in mind and give Rozier and Hunter the opportunities that would be given to a much more established player in Smith.