Marcus Smart was a college star at Oklahoma State University who transformed from a playmaking point guard to a do-it-all elite defensive wing. He was a key part of a number of great Boston Celtics teams, including making a run to the NBA Finals in 2022, the year he also won Defensive Player of the Year.
And he was almost on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It has been reported that the Cavaliers zeroed in on three players at this year's NBA Trade Deadline, and Smart was one of them. They also looked closely at Cameron Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets and De'Andre Hunter of the Atlanta Hawks.
However far the discussions around Smart proceeded, in the end the Cavaliers pivoted away and pulled off a trade for Hunter.
De'Andre Hunter has been great for the Cavaliers
The Cavaliers sent a package of Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and some low-end draft capital to the Hawks for Hunter, a 6'8" forward who has developed into an accurate high-volume shooter over the past few seasons.
That comfort level taking a lot of 3-pointers was important for a Cavaliers team whose new identity is in winning the math game from distance, and to do that they need players who don't just shoot a good percentage on three attempts per game, but were comfortable getting up six or eight or ten attempts from deep.
Hunter has been exactly what they hoped for in that area. While there are a lot of mouths to feed in Cleveland, Hunter has averaged five attempts per game and shot a scorching 47.7 percent on them since joining the Cavaliers, who have gone 14-4 since the deal.
While Hunter is not a lockdown defender, he does have good size and length and gives them an option on larger wings and forwards. On a team that doesn't need more on-ball players, Hunter has found his niche.
Marcus Smart is struggling
Marcus Smart, on the other hand? While the Cavaliers were considering trading for him as a veteran addition for the playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies -- another team heading to the playoffs and theoretically trying to win once they get there -- the Grizzlies did more than just make Smart available, they practically dumped him on the Washington Wizards to clear his salary for next season.
Without a doubt, Smart was not having a good season for the Grizzlies. He was averaging just 8.7 points per game, shooting a frigid 35.8 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from deep. After playing at least 30 minutes per game for five-straight seasons, Smart averaged just 21.1 minutes per game in Memphis heading into the Trade Deadline.
Then Smart was shipped east, essentially dead salary dropped onto the Washington Wizards roster. To his credit, Smart is showing more signs of life offensively since the deal, shooting a much more reasonable 38.6 percent from deep and decreasing his turnovers.
The problem is that Smart has been a trainwreck on defense. He clearly is no longer a wing stopper; at his best he could lock up any flavor of perimeter creator, using his strength and wingspan to guard combo forwards and speedy point guards alike.
That ability is gone. Whether it's a result of nagging injuries or declining athleticism as he ages, he has lost a step. He is a beat slow, a hair behind in his reactions, a foot lower on his jumps. Smart is obviously playing on an abysmal defensive team, but even so he is doing little to prove himself to potential trade suitors.
The Cavaliers would have likely paid less to acquire Smart, but they would have needed to match his salary somehow. The eventual package would likely have been based on the same two players. Smart has been worse than Caris LeVert straight-up, not to mention Georges Niang or any draft assets.
Smart is a shaky, relatively low volume 3-point shooter who wants the ball in his hands and is losing a step on defense. In De'Andre Hunter the Cavs added a high-volume shooter with size on defense. They would have contributed very different things to a successful Cleveland team.
It is clear that the Cavaliers dodged a bullet at the NBA Trade Deadline. Adding Marcus Smart could have been a disaster.