Marcus Smart Discussion: Welcome To LA

Always good to have an enforcer on the team

Make other players think twice about doing dirty stuff

 

I agree with everyone who wants to start Smart over Rui, but it just doesn't seem likely. The FO and JJ wouldn't bench Rui last season even when DFS, Vando, or even Vincent would have made more sense, for similar reasons that people have laid out for Smart.

Rui seems to play better as a starter also and didn't respond well to being benched 2 years ago. With this being a contract year, they really seem likely to commit to the Rui + Big 3 + Ayton starting lineup. Would look pretty bad to Rui to change it before even trying it.

That said, I hope I'm wrong (as long as Rui stays effective off the bench), and if not, that they sub in Smart for Rui quickly, like 4 min in or so.

 

Looking for big things from Smart

If he's truly motivated then it'll be a huge boost to defensive side of the game

 

wait--he ignored luka's first call? that's pretty funny.

 

I envision a Dennis Johnson role for him as a starter

Ayton as The Chief
LeBron as Cornbread
Luka as the Hick from French Lick
AR as the annoying pest who’s face you want to punch
Smart as DJ

 

Wait, you are comparing our players to the green guys

That's against everything that is Lakers

The green guys are our enemy for life

No quarter, ever

I have a great disdain for everything Boston

Been a Lakers and Angels fan since the mid 60's and have suffered through many heartaches

If Boston was on fire I'd have to think twice about pissing on it

Nothing against you personally, it's just how I feel about them and it will never change

 

Really love this signing.

I don't think he should start (in October and for most of the regular). Reasons why:
- He just came off 2 seasons not playing much
- Has some health issues we need to manage
- We benefit more going with the chemistry we have with Rui in that group (especially to start the season)
- Rui plays better when starting
- Rui's value goes up until the deadline that can be important for trades

I think Smart will close games much more often and maybe in March or so we make that tweak and start him over Rui. There may be some roster movement too by that point as well. But right off the gate I think we have more to gain with Rui starting and Smart slowly picking up his fitness and chemistry with the main group

 

I don’t like to compare but the similarities are uncanny

 

i think most points are valid here, but some points of divergence:

-smart's most recent injury was to his hand, i think, plus he was on a tanking team. if anything he should be as ready to go as he's been in years, imo.
-i think rui's value is mostly as an expiring, kind of regardless of how he plays. it's like the dlo situation--he's more valuable to us than he is in trade. now, maybe, like dlo, we could use his contract to make a slight upgrade during the season (particularly if he has a bad year like dlo did last year), but him playing better may actually make moves harder, imo--in that it will hurt more to send him out the better he plays. remember, too, that whoever trades for him inherits the same sticky contractual situation we have--what do you pay rui? is he a starter? the team trading for him has to feel confident in his role and in their ability to retain him.

should we extend rui, the dynamics change, but are also problematic. in that case, he better ball out to retain any value at all. this is why i don't think we do that.

between kevin mchale and lebron james?

 

Yeah. I feel like Smart's last injury is one he can recover from and its no secret he had no interest in leaving the C Bags. He did what he could in his last stops but I expect him to really thrive next to LeBron and Luka.

 

Definitely won the press conference. Seemed extremely excited to be a Laker, and that’s always good to see.

 

i remember that draft, and i was happy because one of gordon, randle, or smart was going to fall to us (iirc, we wanted exum, but he went earlier). i was happy with randle, but it was really a coin flip between the three for me (i thought gordon was the one who would fall). anyway, interesting to see that all three have had good careers and that the real head scratcher of that draft turned out to be jabari parker.

anyway, he does seem happy to be here, and that should help.

 

I get your points, just prefer to start with a certainty like Rui and let Smart as a starter build up during the season, instead of starting with that uncertainty. I do believe Smart will be healthy most of the season, in any case.

Yeah, Rui is a head scratcher. Not sure what's his future. My point was more that he develops into a player that a team sees him as an asset (that they will pay around 25mil to keep because they see value in him), either as a piece for their team or as someone that will hold trading value in the following years. I would hope he would become more than an expiring like Gabe/Kleber as it can open more avenues for us (like Wiggins type of trades, where we don't have to send picks or wtv).
Say NOLA for wtv reason like him and he can be included with Knecht and the pick for Herb or Trey, stuff like that that you can't get with a "only expiring"

I like him, but I'm not happy paying him 20M+, although it may be our best option in a few months

I think he would be great playing alongside Sabonis, Jokic and alike.

 

yeah, i just don't see moves like the one you mentioned as very likely. my best guess is we'll wait until the summer to figure it out, unless rui asks out during the season--this could happen if some team tells him they'll extend him (or sign him in the summer to a big contract using bird rights) if they can trade for him.

in such a case, the return would probably be pretty limited.

anyway, it's the smart thread, and i'm still thinking we should start him and play lebron and luka at the 3 and 4 instead of pretending one of them or rui is defending the 1 or the 2.