At this point there is no discussion to be had. Smart is the far superior player in virtually every way. What has Rozier shown himself to be able to do at an NBA level? He has shown some potential but the team basically self destructed every time he stepped on the floor last year. I have high hopes for Rozier but he has a long way to go before he becomes a valuable rotation piece. Smart flips games on there head defensively and in a better role offensively, surrounded by better talent, will be an excellent player going forward.
There is a discussion to be had. Use your eyes. Does Rozier not have more upside? I mean he's already better on offense. What does Smart do better on offense? Passing probably, but other than that Rozier is better than him at every aspect.
Also, Rozier is a very good defender. Look, I get that you want to use last year, but you can't use last year. This is a new year. Players improve. People like to project before the season starts. If we just wait and see what happens and then make a judgement, there is no point to having a forum.
Anyways, time will tell who is right or wrong, but I really do think Smart should watch his back this year because Rozier is going to steal minutes from him if Smart can't shoot. Dude can't even start on this team. He's losing to Bradley and honestly at the end of last year, people were clammering around saying Rozier should take Smart's minutes. At least on talk show radio.
Yeah, who could think that Smart is good when he can't even start over a guy that only got 62 votes for All Defensive First Team and scored a pitiful 15.2 ppg on a truly disgusting 52% eFG? Phil Pressey could have started over him!
It's fine to think that Rozier will improve a lot this year (and I think we all hope he does), but to say that he's already better than Smart is a bit ridiculous. We haven't even seen either of them play this season (no, summer league does not count), so let's hold it on the comparison.
Far more likely, we'll find that Smart is the much better defender, Rozier is better at running an offense, and Rozier is a better shooter (but they're both still below average). And that Avery Bradley (despite your phrasing making it seem like he's a replacement level player) will continue to start and have a huge positive impact on the team, behind only IT and Horford