USA Select Team Will Help Marcus Smart’s Development

Marcus Smart can learn a lot playing for Team USA’s Select Team

The Boston Celtics are one of only a couple of teams that won’t be represented in the Olympics this year. Some teams don’t have any players on Team USA, however, with the NBA becoming more global, many teams have players on international teams this summer. Despite Boston not owning anyone on Team USA, Marcus Smart – one of their young, high-potential guards – was selected to Team USA’s Select Team for the second time in his career.

The Select Team is compiled of the expected next wave of great NBA players. It has rookies like Brandon Ingram, Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine, second-year players such as D’Angelo Russell, Myles Turner and Devin Booker, and even have a couple of older players like Marcus Smart, C.J. McCollum and Rodney Hood in the mix.

In all, it’s a 25-man roster that holds a lot of great NBA talent and potential. In a sense, in four years, the Olympic roster will most likely be made up of a lot of these players. Maybe Marcus Smart won’t be one of them, however this experience is priceless for the young guard.

It’s not secret what Smart’s strengths and weaknesses are. He’s averaged 1.5 steals per game in each of his first two seasons and has become one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA. Smart is tenacious, tough, quick and can guard on the perimeter and in the paint. Although, his horrific jump shot has been his achilles heel during his young career.

At 6’4″ and 220 pounds, Smart has one of the best builds for a guard, yet doesn’t utilize it on offense. In a jump shooting league, it makes sense that 45.6 percent of his shots come from behind the arc.

Although, when seeing he shot 25.3 percent from three last season – one of the worst three-point shooting seasons ever – it makes less sense why Smart settles for jump shots. He has shown the ability to get to the basket and be a decent finisher – 51.3 percent in the paint – but not leaning towards that facet of his game more often has caused him problems.

Defenders knowing to play off of him and force him to shoot has been a big reason why he’s settled for so many long-range shots. If Smart isn’t able to develop a jump shot then learning to get by his defender or finish through contact is his next option.

Playing alongside a plethora of great wing players this summer, Smart has an advantage very few players in the NBA have, and no one on the Celtics own.

Smart is far from being considered one of the top prospects on the Select Team, in fact, you can make the opposite case. There are few players who Smart has a clear advantage over, but that could be good news. It will challenge him to get better in every area, even on defense.

In one play when he was defending Lakers’ guard D’Angelo Russell, Smart didn’t put his hand up and let Russell shoot over him with ease. It’s simple mistakes like that which will get exemplified against a group of elite talent.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/755882775559802880

Smart is far from the only young player making mistakes, but learning from some of the best coaches in the world will help him patch up some of these holes. Coach K, Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams are four of the best coaches in the game. As smart as Brad Stevens is, it’s impossible to gain the valuable experience and lessons that four coaches who’ve been around a lot of great players and teams can give the young guard.

Not to mention that the Select Team also competes against the Olympic Team.

Even with a lot of the stars dropping out this year, the team is still loaded with talent. Whether he’s squaring up against Kyrie Irving at point guard, or DeMar DeRozan or Klay Thompson at shooting guard, it’s the type of experience you can’t replicate. Not only is playing against elite competition going to make him better but playing against elite players with different playing styles makes it an even better experience.

Irving is the type of player who prefers to drive to the basket, and can finish in acrobatic ways. DeRozan is able to get off shots in every way possible, whether in traffic or not. Thompson is one of the best three-point shooters in the game and his catch-and-shoot ability is unmatched.

Even Jimmy Butler can help Smart become an even better defender and help him learn to be more effective playing off-the-ball. After Smart played the point 74 percent of his minutes as a rookie, it went down to 42 percent last season. Now with Terry Rozier in the mix, it’s evident that Smart will continue to be used as a two-guard more often.

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Butler is one of the best at getting open looks at the basket, and his later development is similar to what the Celtics are hoping to get out of Smart in the next couple of seasons. Not to mention that Smart, an already very good defender, will be learning and watching one of the league’s best.

In a broader sense, this could also help in free agency. Smart is developing friendships with some of the best players in the NBA, and friends have tended to team up together lately. Not to say that Smart will be the deciding factor in a star player’s decision, but knowing someone well and liking them as a person and player can’t hurt the Celtics’ chances.

When it comes down to it, the Olympics are a once in a lifetime opportunity. While Smart isn’t playing in Rio, competing on the Select Team for the second time should be very beneficial for his game. He gets more, and better, reps on the court than anything he could have done this offseason on his own.

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Today is the last day of the three-day training camp, and this is probably Smart’s last go-around on the Select Team. With that being said, seeing Terry Rozier or Jaylen Brown competing on the next Select Team would be great to see. It won’t transform Smart into an All-Star next season, but it’d be shocking not to see him benefiting from this experience.