Boston Celtics: How to Handle Paying Marcus Smart

The Boston Celtics could have a difficult time trying to figure out how much to offer Marcus Smart this offseason

We are still a long ways away from any kind of decision having to be made, but the Boston Celtics are going to be in an interesting position while negotiating with Marcus Smart, and this recent incident could have some kind of an impact.

This is the season when Smart had to prove how much money he is actually worth. Everyone has known how valuable he is as a defender, and that alone will make sure he has different options when it comes to contracts.

The unfortunate part for Smart, however, is that shooting is only becoming more important in the NBA, and this needed to be the season he proved that he was not a liability. There was all the hype in the offseason because of the weight he loss and the improved shooting stroke.

Despite the apparent off season changes, the results have stayed exactly the same as Smart is just slightly above his career average, shooting 29.9 percent from three point range. If he is not able to turn that around in a big way the rest of the season, it is going to cost him millions of dollars.

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A lot will depend on how much money Smart is looking for, and chances are he is going to want to be one of the highest payed players on the team. It is easy to see how important Smart is to the Celtics, and even if he is coming off the bench, he is one of the most important players on the team.

Unfortunately, there are still other factors that could impact Smart this offseason. It is not as if he is some kind of distraction to the team, but his anger has got in his own way in the past. It is an isolated incident and it is unfair to use it against him, but it does not bode well for Smart if he is taking himself out of the lineup for punching glass in anger.

Smart has a bit of a history, and that edge he gets from his anger is not going to disappear. It is certainly not at the same extreme, but we saw how DeMarcus Cousins‘ attitude problems hurt his value, and that could change the options Smart has outside of Boston.

I do not think this incident will change how much the Celtics want to pay him, because that edge is actually something they can use. That anger is a part of the intensity he plays with, and is a part of his defensive mentality that makes him one of the strongest and most unique defenders in the NBA.

That being said, if the Celtics think these problems are going to hurt his value outside of Boston, then they will not hesitate to use it against him in negotiations. It was already incredibly hard to try and gauge Smart’s value because of the contrast of his defense and his shooting, when you add on these potential problems of how he is perceived, and it could be a mess while negotiating.

Ultimately, I do think the Celtics are going to bring back Smart, and the main reason why is Smart’s value to the Celtics is going to be more than most other teams. Smart is very much a part of everything the team wants to do, and they will have a better understanding of how valuable the other little things are.

Teams are not going to pay Smart to be their primary distributor, but his passing is as valuable as anyone’s to the Celtics. Boston does not have that pass first point guard, and they have to generate their ball movement as a unit. Having someone like Smart that can come in and understand what he needs to do to facilitate is vital when you consider how Brad Stevens always uses a deep bench.

Smart is one of the most talented passers on the team, and he is a good understanding of how to instigate the kind of ball movement that this team needs. The only problem is that he does have a tendency to start chucking shots, rather than focus on that ball movement.

If you are a team that gets most of your offense driven by one or two individuals, then Smart’s value drops because his passing is incredibly valuable to the Celtics, and that would not be the case on most teams in the league.

The defense is where Smart is going to make most of his money, and every single team in the league will be paying him for those services. That being said, Smart’s defense is exactly what a team built like the Celtics needs.

Smart can be one of the best one on one defensive guards in the NBA, and that alone will get him a lot of money. If, however, you do not play as much small ball as the Celtics, and you do not push his versatility the way Stevens does, then he loses value.

The Celtics use every single aspect of Smart’s defensive talent. They have him guarding literally all five positions, and there are a lot of teams that will not want him to do that. There are certainly other teams that would use Smart like that, but it is yet another way his options might be limited if he hits the free market. Keep in mind, there really are no limitations to his defense. He has the speed, he has the strength, he has the technique and he is stellar on and off the ball.

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After the offseason the Celtics just had, everything feels like guessing while trying to figure out what they are going to do this offseason. What we do know, however, is that trying to figure out how to handle Smart and how much he should be paid could be the most complicated part of the offseason.