A team desperate to make the playoffs should chase both Smart and Thomas

[Tr1boy]

Because such backcourt was key 2 seasons in helping the Celts obtain a fantastic regular season record and a decent run in the playoffs

When I see teams like the Magic trade for Grant who has done nothing in his career or Bulls staying forever mediocre....instead wouldn't it be better to sign both Smart and Thomas to be your starting backcourt (even if it were for 2 year deals) and try to propel out of mediocrity? Detroit Pistons the same..

[Surferdad]

IT was great with the C’s partly because CBS allowed the offense to run through him.

Do you think Smart/IT is better than Lillard/McCollum, or Wall/Beal?

[Tr1boy]

IT was great with the C’s partly because CBS allowed the offense to run through him.

Do you think Smart/IT is better than Lillard/McCollum, or Wall/Beal?

As a duo you could argue they were just as good if not better than both

Regardless of how CBS utilized both/or gave them green lights

The Celtics won games

If you bring both in...it would actually make it easier on the coach.  Just emulate half of what CBS did while also considering that the other aspects of the lineup is different

Both Smart and Thomas would likley take 12-13 million dollar one year deals. Heck Thomas would prob take pennies on the dollar if he can start.  You really got little to lose.... There is a chance the CBS effect is real + Thomas might never be the same again. But also there is a good chance the chemistry from 2 seasons ago is in tact (Smart takes care of things on defense and Thomas does the heavy lifting on offense)

[CelticsElite]

IT was great with the C’s partly because CBS allowed the offense to run through him.

Do you think Smart/IT is better than Lillard/McCollum, or Wall/Beal?

As a duo you could argue they were just as good if not better than both

Regardless of how CBS utilized both/or gave them green lights

The Celtics won games

If you bring both in...it would actually make it easier on the coach.  Just emulate half of what CBS did while also considering that the other aspects of the lineup is different

Both Smart and Thomas would likley take 12-13 million dollar one year deals. Heck Thomas would prob take pennies on the dollar if he can start.  You really got little to lose.... There is a chance the CBS effect is real + Thomas might never be the same again. But also there is a good chance the chemistry from 2 seasons ago is in tact (Smart takes care of things on defense and Thomas does the heavy lifting on offense)

I think it would be interesting  if the heat bring in IT, Smart, and Carmelo

They will never do it and I hope they don't get smart , but it would peak my interest

[ETNCeltics]

FA has almost completely dried up, only a couple teams have room to make a run at Smart, and yet no one has.

What does that tell you? Some Celtic fans value Smart a lot more than the rest of the league does.

[mr. dee]

IT was great with the C’s partly because CBS allowed the offense to run through him.

Do you think Smart/IT is better than Lillard/McCollum, or Wall/Beal?

IT/Smart duo had a better team record than both Beal/Wall and Dame/CJ duo. So probably, yes.

[SHAQATTACK]

Im glade Lebron got Stevenson in stead of Smart . 

Every great team needs a Smart type player , hustles and gets under the opponents skin . 

[Fafnir]

I do think Marcus would help any team with a good coach who can use his versatility on D and put him in positions to succeed. A team that can't put some shooting or a PnR partner with him will get a lot less out of him but still good things.

I don't know if IT3 will be a positive force for a team anymore. He needs to be utterly elite on offense given his limitations on the other end (and in getting possesions) Is he truly going to be right and get back to scoring efficiently?

[Kuberski33]

I think both need teams with coaches who fully appreciate their set of skills and rosters that compliment their skills.  But especially in IT's case, any non-playoff team would be foolish not to take a flyer on him.  The guy's ceiling is a consistent 25+ ppg if he can ever get his explosiveness back.  He looked like he was starting to come around the last few games he played last season.

[Tr1boy]

I do think Marcus would help any team with a good coach who can use his versatility on D and put him in positions to succeed. A team that can't put some shooting or a PnR partner with him will get a lot less out of him but still good things.

I don't know if IT3 will be a positive force for a team anymore. He needs to be utterly elite on offense given his limitations on the other end (and in getting possesions) Is he truly going to be right and get back to scoring efficiently?

He looked pretty good with the Lakers at 75 percent capacity

[ozman]

FA has almost completely dried up, only a couple teams have room to make a run at Smart, and yet no one has.

What does that tell you? Some Celtic fans value Smart a lot more than the rest of the league does.

While there’s always an exception, and sure some c’s fans do overate smart (the opposite is also true), this is more a reflection of the poor implementation of the cap increase by the league.
It should have been staggered, with a gradual increase each year.

Instead, many teams had unforecasted max  cap space, and many unworthy players were given salaries far beyond their worth. There are multiple guards who got paid around the same level as smart is reported to be seeking (~15m) who have far less impact on games

Smart is absolutely worth 15m a year in my opinion, although it’s fair to question if it is the right move for the Celtics given the abundance of guard quality and depth.

[tazzmaniac]

FA has almost completely dried up, only a couple teams have room to make a run at Smart, and yet no one has.

What does that tell you? Some Celtic fans value Smart a lot more than the rest of the league does.

While there’s always an exception, and sure some c’s fans do overate smart (the opposite is also true), this is more a reflection of the poor implementation of the cap increase by the league.
It should have been staggered, with a gradual increase each year.

Instead, many teams had unforecasted max  cap space, and many unworthy players were given salaries far beyond their worth. There are multiple guards who got paid around the same level as smart is reported to be seeking (~15m) who have far less impact on games

Smart is absolutely worth 15m a year in my opinion, although it’s fair to question if it is the right move for the Celtics given the abundance of guard quality and depth.

The league tried to get cap smoothing but the players union wouldn't accept it. 

[Eddie20]

I do think Marcus would help any team with a good coach who can use his versatility on D and put him in positions to succeed. A team that can't put some shooting or a PnR partner with him will get a lot less out of him but still good things.

I don't know if IT3 will be a positive force for a team anymore. He needs to be utterly elite on offense given his limitations on the other end (and in getting possesions) Is he truly going to be right and get back to scoring efficiently?

He looked pretty good with the Lakers at 75 percent capacity

Really?

He shot 38.3% from the field, 32.7% from 3's, and had a career high 3.2 turnovers per game despite only playing 26.8 MPG. Oh yeah, he was also his same atrocious self defensively.

[action781]

Really good point.  Could even maybe have added Bradley in there too since he didn't go for much!  Chicago had something like $34.5 mil in cap space if they renounced Lavine.  I don't think they are desperate to make the playoffs, so this is not realistic, but I'm interested in seeing what they could have been had they gone this route.

They could have let Sacramento take that Lavine contract and instead split up the $34.5 mil across IT ($9 mil for 1 year would prob do the trick if you guarantee him a starting role to boost his value back up), Avery Bradley (signed for $12.5 mil), and Marcus Smart ($13 mil per over 4 yrs might be enough to seal him).  That's like 80% of the Celtics backcourt minutes in 2016-17.

They could offer Asik (expiring) + Felicio for Nic Batum which I think Charlotte would cartwheel over and their roster looks fairly deep aside from needing a 5th frontcourt player:

IT / Dunn / Payne
Bradley / Smart / Hutchison
Batum / Holiday / Valentine
Markannen / Portis
Robin Lopez / Carter Jr

Not exactly doing anything for them in a rebuild, but fun to rebuild a playoff team in the East on the fly.

[Kuberski33]

I do think Marcus would help any team with a good coach who can use his versatility on D and put him in positions to succeed. A team that can't put some shooting or a PnR partner with him will get a lot less out of him but still good things.

I don't know if IT3 will be a positive force for a team anymore. He needs to be utterly elite on offense given his limitations on the other end (and in getting possesions) Is he truly going to be right and get back to scoring efficiently?

He looked pretty good with the Lakers at 75 percent capacity

Really?

He shot 38.3% from the field, 32.7% from 3's, and had a career high 3.2 turnovers per game despite only playing 26.8 MPG. Oh yeah, he was also his same atrocious self defensively.

If you watched any of his games near the end of his season, he was starting to play a lot better.  Still nowhere near where he was - but a lot better than when he was with Cleveland.