Getty Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics.
The Boston Celtics came into this offseason with a plan. After losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games in the NBA Finals, they wanted to improve their roster. So, when the offseason began, they were active in free agency and in the trade market.
Brad Stevens began by agreeing to sign Danilo Gallinari, a veteran forward who was waived by the San Antonio Spurs. Then, he swiftly moved on, trading five players to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for combo guard Malcolm Brogdon.
When the Celtics traded for Brogdon, many expected him to step into the starting role. However, reports quickly indicated that Brogdon will actually be the sixth man, and Marcus Smart would remain the starting point guard. As for Smart, he’s fully on board with the addition and believes that they can work together to run the offense. Jay King of The Athletic caught up with Smart on Tuesday when he was watching a basketball practice.
“I love it,” Smart explained on Tuesday at Emmanuel College. “You’ve got two veteran guys who can feed off each other, who can rotate and help this team in multiple ways. I think it’s going to fit perfect. Not one of us will have all the pressure of running the team. We’re doing this together.”
Smart was watching Team YGC practice The Basketball Tournament. The team is named after his foundation, the YounGameChanger Foundation. He spoke about the trade as a whole and the team’s improved depth.
Celtics’ Improved Depth Next Season
After the trades, the Celtics have a ton of depth. Both Brogdon and Gallinari are slated to come off the bench and help Boston’s second unit. They’ll now have plenty of options on the roster, and Smart is excited about that.
“I think everybody can always use more depth,” said Smart. “More depth helps your team. Definitely for us as a young team, first time there, to be able to have even more depth. But at the same time, just being able to have more options is always a helpful thing. We’re excited. Any help that we can add to help us get to our goal, we’ll take it.”
Smart isn’t the only one excited about the team’s depth, though. Stevens, who made the trades, said that the Celtics will be better because of it. However, he also admitted that players will have to make sacrifices because of how many mouths there will be to feed.
“We do have a deep team. There will be the need to give a little, which is very important,” Stevens said. “But I think everybody here is ready to do that. They got a taste of what it’s all about in June, and it’s pretty clear what we want to do here.”
As far as the goal next season, Smart has one thing on his mind.
Smart Explains Celtics’ Goal
Getting to the Finals isn’t easy, and winning it is even harder. Smart spoke about the road there, how difficult it was, and what the team’s goal will be next season as they attempt to get back into that position.
“But seriously, for us, it’s just, we learned. It was a lesson for us. Nobody likes to get lessons out of a hard situation or a failed situation, so it was tough,” Smart explained. “But it’s definitely a learning lesson. We played against a really great, experienced team with some really great players and a great coaching staff who’s been there multiple times and knows exactly what it is to get there, so we learned a lot from those guys. So hopefully we put that back into circulation this next season and we’ll try to get back there.”
Boston will be heading into next season with a deep roster and a team full of players who share one goal – winning a championship.