What Does Marcus Smart Have to Show in 2016-17?

Marcus Smart has to improve in an important year three

Coming off participating on the USA Select Team for the second time, Marcus Smart is entering an important third year with the Boston Celtics. The 6’4″ combo guard has had a major bench role since being drafted by the Celtics sixth overall in 2014. Brad Stevens has never been a coach that gave away minutes to rookies, yet Smart saw an uncharacteristic 27 minutes per night as a rookie and 27.3 minutes last season.

Although, Smart is coming off an all-time worst 25.3 three-point percentage last season as he attempted 241 threes last season. He still provided the Celtics with stifling defense as he averaged 1.5 steals per game for the second straight season.

However, Smart is no longer viewed as the franchise point guard as Isaiah Thomas has taken that title and ran with it. After making the All-Star team last season, Smart seems destined for a role off the bench for the Celtics, unless he greatly improves his outside shot.

The Celtics hopefulness of turning Smart into a two-guard became evident last season. After 74 percent of minutes came at the point guard spot during his rookie season, Smart only played 42 percent of his 1,667 minutes at point guard. With Evan Turner now in Portland, there’s a chance that Smart sees more time at small forward – one percent of minutes at the three last season.

With Smart entering his third NBA season, Boston is hoping for more from the former top-10 pick. The third year is when a lot of players show improvement and start to develop into the type of player they’ll be for the rest of their careers, and that’s what the Celtics are hoping to see from Smart.

Last season, C.J. McCollum, Steven Adams, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert all took giant steps in their third season. While McCollum improved his scoring by 14 points to 20.8 points per game last season, that’s a rare gigantic improvement that came with more than double the amount of minutes from the previous season. With Smart expected to see around 27 minutes per night for the third straight season, that kind of improvement isn’t realistic to expect. Although, he needs to show some improvement with his outside shot.

When you pair Thomas’ height and his compatibility with Brad Stevens’ system, Smart isn’t going to take over his starting job anytime soon. Besides, all 2,644 minutes that Thomas played last season came at the point guard position. Therefore, Smart will be used as the off-guard or small forward when not replacing Thomas, meaning improving his outside shot has to happen eventually.

He has proven to already be one of the best defensive guards in the league. He is a suffocating on-ball defender, creates turnovers and contest shots. Still, being a defensive specialist will only take him so far, eventually turning him into a Tony Allen type of player. While Allen has had an exceptional defensive career in Memphis, more was expected from this Oklahoma State product when being drafted.

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Luckily for Smart, the improvement doesn’t have to come all at once. In fact, expecting major improvement next season is unrealistic. Let’s remember that his three-point percentage last season was the worst in NBA history for a player who attempted at least 200 threes in a season. The more troubling part of his poor three-point percentage is that he attempted so many threes.

Smart is clearly not a three-point shooter. His 33.5 three-point percentage as a rookie suggests that there is some potential from behind the arc, but it shouldn’t be the main part of his offensive arsenal. Attempting four-threes per game last season – 51 percent of his shots have come from three during his career – has to come down in his third season.

Sure, Smart only shot 51.3 percent when getting to the basket, but that part of his game also became a second thought last season. Only 29.1 percent of his shots came at the rim. While that was a 11.5 percent increase from his rookie season, he needs to continue to make that a bigger part of his game.

Still, with the Celtics back court depth, like previously noted, Smart doesn’t need to turn into an offensive juggernaut this upcoming season. The Celtics will give their former franchise point guard time to develop his offensive game. Focusing on getting to the basket and not relying on his jump shot as often will be a big step for him.

Granted, teams will start playing off of him and daring him to shoot, but he can’t continue to rely on his outside shot. Another horrid three-point shooting season shouldn’t be in store for Smart, but getting his overall field-goal percentage closer to 40 percent is important, and that will happen by him getting to the basket more often. Because despite not being an amazing finisher at the rim, it’s where he’s most effective.

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In Smart’s career, the Celtics don’t need him to ever develop an elite or even great offensive game. His defense will be enough to give him a long NBA career, and buy him time as he slowly develops on offense. Of course, the Celtics would love for him to develop into the player they felt he would become when they drafted him, but that franchise point guard seems like a dream at this point.

Still, if Smart were to shoot 40 percent from the field and 33 percent from three then he’d be one of the best bench players in the league. His percentages would still be a far cry from what many were expecting the Oklahoma State standout to shoot in his NBA career, but it would be a 3.3 percent increase from his rookie field-goal percentage. Plus, he already shot 33.5 percent from deep as a rookie, therefore consistently hitting that mark would keep teams honest and needing to guard him on offense.

As amazing as it would be, Marcus Smart doesn’t need to be a franchise point guard. He has time and the opportunity to improve his offense over the next couple of seasons to become a solid bench guard. The USA Select Team should have helped him, but this is the year for Smart to show Boston that they didn’t make a mistake drafting him sixth overall.

Next: Predicting Celtics 2016-17 Statistical Leaders

Don’t expect a C.J. McCollum breakout season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Smart’s shooting percentages skyrocket next season to at least respectable. Although, it’s just another season in the journey for Marcus Smart.

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