The Boston Celtics would have taken a different player than veteran point guard Marcus Smart if the counterfactual past imagined by a redraft of the NBA’s 2014 class that was put together by Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon was non-fiction.
Had the draft order in this alternate reality remained the same, Boston would have taken forward Aaron Gordon with the sixth overall pick controlled by the Celtics. The Flower Mound native would have fallen to the seventh pick of the 2014 NBA draft.
Buy Celtics Tickets“The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, even as questionable as that award might have been, Marcus Smart truly is one of the best guard defenders in the NBA,” writes Hoops Hype.
Hoops Hype notes Smart is “an absolute pest on that end of the floor” who “also provides some solid playmaking for the Celtics” as well.
When it comes to contenders for the 2023 NBA title, the Boston Celtics are in rarified air. https://t.co/PkyUNMom8L
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) March 1, 2023
Fairly, they note “his shooting is still very inconsistent,” though we think this is not as true as it used to be in terms of volume if not quality.
They have the Texan floor general ranked just ahead of Clint Capela, but at least for the Celtics, believe Smart made (and would make) more sense than a Gordon pickup would have been, with Smart the more impactful player.
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