Marcus Smart Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Prospect Profile: Marcus Smart

March 21st, 2014 at 8:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

What a difference one season can make. If Marcus Smart would have entered last year’s draft he would have been in the discussion for the first overall pick. He had earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors and was seen as the top player in an otherwise underwhelming draft class. Instead, Smart opted to return to Oklahoma State for another season, and now finds himself unlikely to even be the first point guard to come off the board.

Back in April of last year when he announced his choice, Smart said, “There’s a lot of speculation going. I’ve been bashed and criticized that I probably made a mistake of coming back here, the NBA will be there, I should have took it, and this year’s draft class is much weaker than next year’s. But I think I made the right decision. All that was telling me, from those people that said that, is they don’t have confidence in my ability and my game to compete with those players next year. You guys have given me that confidence to do that, so I chose to stay here. I’m aware of how much money I am giving up.”

Smart’s sophomore numbers have remained mostly in line with his freshman production. He did raise his shooting percentage slightly, from .404 to .425, which helped him increase his scoring average, but everything else is nearly identical. This can be looked at a couple of ways. The positive spin is that he has shown remarkable consistency in his game and proved last season was no fluke. The negative perspective would be that he hasn’t shown much growth offensively in his second year. Smart’s season stats are 17.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.8 SPG in 32.5 minutes per contest. His slash line is .425/.302/.736. His career numbers are 16.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 2.9 SPG over 33.0 minutes. His career slash line is .414/.297/.756.

Shooting is the main aspect of Smart’s game that he will need to continue to improve on in order to become a more effective offensive player at the next level. He has solid form and looks to have good overall mechanics, but he is just not a consistent shooter at this stage in his development. He is a 30.3% spot-up shooter, 22% coming off of screens, and in isolation he shoots 30.8% from the field, according to NBA Draft Insider.com. Part of the issue is that Smart displays poor shot selection, which has been criticized during his college career. Smart would be better served to stop settling for long-range jump shots and to instead take better advantage of his explosiveness by driving to the basket more. He has shown a slight improvement in this area, raising his free throw attempts per game from 6.5 his freshman season to 7.7 this year.

Smart has the capability of playing either of the guard positions, but he’s spent most of his career at point guard. As a playmaker Smart is an excellent passer within the flow of an offense, but creating for teammates off the dribble isn’t his specialty. Smart is a score-first point guard. He’s also rates as just an average ball-handler, but he has improved in that area this season, cutting his turnovers from 3.4 to 2.5 per game.

His build is NBA ready, and at 6’4″, 220 pounds, he will be able to compete physically in the league right away. With his size and strength Smart is able to defend multiple positions. He has good body control and moves well with his man on or off the ball. When guarding ball-handlers he has shown quick hands that he uses to bother his man and force turnovers. When defending off the ball he tracks the ball well, gets in passing lanes to make plays, and applies timely double-teams to force turnovers. It is as a defender that Smart has the most immediate value in the NBA. His 3.4 steals per 40 minutes shows just how active a player he is on the defensive end. Smart has to use his basketball IQ and strength to his advantage as he isn’t the fastest player, and he may struggle against some of the quicker guards in the league.

Smart has shown flashes of immaturity during his time at Oklahoma State. There was an incident where he kicked a chair out of frustration during a game against West Virginia, which was a relatively minor flare-up. The major incident occurred a few weeks later during a game versus Texas Tech, when Smart pushed a vocal Red Raiders fan. The fan reportedly used a racial slur toward Smart, but the NCAA still suspended the point guard for three contests. “Unfortunately for Smart, there is going to be a fallout after this,” an NBA executive told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “His reputation has taken a hit. That is all people and the media are going to want to talk about with him before and after the draft. Some teams won’t want to deal with that.” Yet when asked if the push affects Smart’s draft stock, an NBA GM told Spears that his decline on draft boards was solely because of concerns about his game.

NBA teams have shown a willingness to overlook incidents like these in lieu of talent. Smart also just turned 20 years old on March 6th, and he has plenty of time to mature. Based on recent mock drafts, Smart is still projected to be a top-10 pick. NBADraft.net has him being taken fourth, Draft Express has him sixth, and Smart also currently sits sixth on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board.

While he doesn’t have the unlimited raw athleticism of some of the other prospects in this draft, Smart’s strength and explosiveness coupled with his understanding of the game should assure him of being drafted in the middle of the lottery. There are no questions about his drive or overall skill set, but he’ll have to significantly improve his outside shot to be a star at the next level. Smart will also have to show he has matured and developed a thicker skin to quiet down any talk of him being a risky selection. Scouts have compared his game to Baron Davis and Jason Kidd‘s, and Draft Insider.com has projected his “ceiling” as Dwyane Wade and his “basement” as Marcus Banks. His ability to defend both guard positions will make him valuable, and that should guarantee him a roster spot for years, but if he can’t improve his outside shooting, he won’t achieve greatness at the next level.

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, UCLA

March 19th, 2014 at 5:56pm CST by Alex Lee

In his latest chat with readers, Chad Ford of ESPN.com insists that Andrew Wiggins has solidified his position as the No. 1 draft prospect. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com disagrees, debuting his own Top 30 list based off discussions he’s had with league executives. It has Jabari Parker at the top. Howard-Cooper also touched on a multitude of other draft topics in another post. Let’s sort through his latest and more draft-related stuff here:

Front offices are wavering between Parker and Kansas’ Joel Embiid for the top spot, according to Howard-Cooper. He adds that no one has more at stake in the NCAA Tournament than Embiid, who only has a shot to return from back issues if the Jayhawks advance without him.
Austalian guard Dante Exum is right behind the troika of Parker-Embiid-Wiggins. That foursome is followed by Julius Randle and Marcus Smart, before a big drop off at No. 7.
Jusuf Nurkic is flying up draft boards, according to Howard-Cooper. The 19-year-old Bosnian center, currently playing in Croatia, is in one team’s top ten and may ultimately challenge Dario Saric as the first European off the board.
UCLA’s Zach LaVine has yet to convince scouts that he projects as a point guard in the NBA, Howard-Cooper writes. It doesn’t help than teammate Kyle Anderson has been handling the ball more as point forward lately, presumably boosting his draft stock. LaVine is still an attractive prospect, but his value will take a hit if his future looks to be on the wing. Both Bruins project as mid first rounders should they choose to come out.
USA Today’s Adi Joseph includes Embiid and Anderson on his list of eight NBA hopefuls with the most to gain in the NCAA Tournament, along with Keith Appling, Jahii Carson, Cleanthony Early, Tyler Ennis, Montrezl Harrell and Shabazz Napier.

Draft Rumors: Gordon, Parker, Wiggins

March 17th, 2014 at 1:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Chad Ford of ESPN.com has used his insider-only “Tank Rank” column to pass along rumors connected the plans that teams have for this season, but this week’s edition is all about how clubs view the top prospects for the draft. We’ll pass along the highlights from Ford here:

The Celtics and Jazz are high on Arizona power forward Aaron Gordon, according to Ford.
Ford consistently hears that the Pistons would draft Jabari Parker No. 1 overall if they scored the No. 1 overall pick. That seems to assume that Joe Dumars would still be in charge of the team’s basketball operations, which isn’t a given.
The Pelicans believe Parker would be the “perfect fit” for them, Ford writes.
The Cavs envision using Andrew Wiggins, a small forward, as a shooting guard next to Kyrie Irving if they’re able to land the Kansas star, Ford suggests.
If the Magic wind up with the No. 1 overall pick, they’d probably use it on Wiggins, Ford writes, identifying Dante Exum and Marcus Smart as others the team will likely target.
The Lakers appear to have Joel Embiid, Wiggins, and Exum as their top three prospects, according to Ford, who pegs Parker fourth and Julius Randle fifth on L.A.’s board.

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Lakers

March 14th, 2014 at 6:12pm CST by Alex Lee

An NBA executive told Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) that how college players perform in the NCAA tournament plays a large role in how NBA scouts view them leading up to the draft. As more teams secure their spots in March Madness this weekend, let’s take a look at the rumors surrounding this year’s draft class:

The same exec told Amico that junior LaQuinton Ross and senior Aaron Craft of Ohio State are both on his draft board in the early second round (Twitter link).
As Jonathan Givony of Draft Express tweets, Andrew Wiggins has surpassed his Kansas teammate Joel Embiid atop his latest mock draft. As we learned last night, Embiid’s back issues will undoubtedly put the microscope on the talented center when it comes time for medical testing at the draft combine.
Scouts agree with Givony’s projection according to Adam Zagoria, as the SNY insider cites ESPN’s Chad Ford and NBA scouts in a tweet indicating that Wiggins has risen back to the top of many draft boards in light of his 71 combined points in the Jayhawks’ last two games.
One executive that likely saw Wiggins hang 30 on Oklahoma State yesterday was Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak, who is in Kansas City this week for the Big 12 tournament according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Along with Wiggins and Embiid, Ding mentions the Cowboys’ Marcus Smart as a potential target, also adding that scouting director Jesse Buss (youngest son of Jerry) and assistant scouting director Ryan West (son of Jerry) aid Kupchak in the team’s draft process.

Cray Allred contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Wiggins, Embiid, Cuban

March 8th, 2014 at 11:27am CST by Cray Allred

One NBA GM tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that uncertainty about entering the draft recently expressed by Jabari Parker, along with similar sentiments from Joel Embiid earlier this year, are par for the course. He says the high profile players will all say they are considering staying in college until after the NCAA season, when they will all declare for the draft (Twitter links). Here are more rumors surrounding the draft:

Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register says that not one NBA source he’s talked to likes Andrew Wiggins as a sure-fire blue chip player. Heisler says NBA personnel people are now only in agreement on Embiid as a top-level prospect.
Still, an anonymous Eastern Conference scout tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that the 2014 draft class is much better than last year’s, and should be important for the league. The scout also gives his take on Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Dante Exum, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, and Noah Vonleh.
Adi Joseph of USA Today looks at the draft stocks of Andrew Harrison, Rodney Hood, and Bryce Cotton.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban told reporters, including Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that he wishes there were additional rounds in the NBA draft. “I’d like to see four rounds so you can draft guys overseas, get more guys drafted that are your property so you can try to develop them,” Cuban said. “You’ve got to realize that toward the bottom of the second round there are teams that pick for financial reasons, and that takes advantage of guys that might have otherwise been picked.”

Draft Notes: Saric, Stauskas, Lakers

March 7th, 2014 at 5:57pm CST by Cray Allred

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and vice president of player personnel Jim Buss are expected to scout the Big 12 tournament next week, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter). Prospects in the Big 12 for the 2014 draft include Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart, Isaiah Austin, Cory Jefferson, LeBryan Nash, and Markel Brown. Embiid, Wiggins, and Smart are projected in the lottery, where L.A. will likely be picking. The Lakers owe their second round pick to the Bucks, although they could certainly acquire one on or before draft night. Here are more rumors surrounding the draft:

Turkish team Anadolu Efes is set to offer NBA draft prospect Dario Saric a five-year deal worth 6 million euros, or about $8.32MM, a source tells Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia, who notes that there are rumors the offer would cover only three years. Saric, a potential lottery pick, is undecided about whether to enter the draft this year, but he’s seriously considering the offer from Turkey, Carchia hears. The deal would include an NBA escape clause for 2016, when Saric will be automatically eligible for the NBA draft.
Saric is expected to hire a new agent at the end of the season, and his choice figures to significantly impact his call on his decision to declare for the draft, Carchia tweets.
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com has Saric at No. 10 on his latest draft board, which features Jabari Parker on top.
An NBA scout tells David Mayo of MLive.com that Michigan shooting guard Nik Stauskas would likely go in the late teens or early-20s if he entered the draft this year.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Age Limit, Smart, Smith, Baron

March 1st, 2014 at 3:28pm CST by Charlie Adams

We’ve heard that new commissioner Adam Silver would be interested in raising the age limit for players to 20, thereby putting a stop to “one-and-done” guys who enter the draft after just one year of college. Kevin McHale would support such a change, but he actually suggests increasing the minimum age to 21 would be even better, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. McHale thinks it would benefit both the schools and the kids:

“I’d like to see us do the three years out of high school or 21 (years old), like football. I just think it would help the colleges. I think it would help the kids. And I know they don’t think so, because they want to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get in the market. I’ve got to make all my money and all that stuff.’ But you don’t make money if you have a three-year career, if you come in at 18, 19, and you’re not ready.”

Here’s more on the proposed idea and the NBA draft in general:

It isn’t just McHale interested in implementing a 21-year-old age limit. Outspoken Dallas owner Mark Cuban echoes McHale’s sentiments, tweets Dwain Price of the Star Telegram.
Adi Joseph of USA Today examines the draft stocks of Marcus Smart and Russ Smith. Joseph thinks that Smart is a lock to be a top 10 selection, but sees Smith as a high second-rounder who still needs to improve his passing.
Billy Baron has been putting up huge numbers at Canisius, but some have wondered if he will be able to be productive at the next level. An NBA scout told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that Baron could be a second-round selection if he impresses at the NBA camps (Twitter link). His athleticism and defense are his two biggest weaknesses, the scout says.
Over at ZagsBlog, another NBA scout tells Zagoria that this year’s college freshman have been overhyped. The scout thinks that Julius Randle would do well to stay another year at Kentucky but acknowledges he will almost certainly opt to enter the draft.
In the same piece, Zagoria reveals that the scout’s top three players unsurprisingly consist of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Joel Embiid, in no particular order.

Odds & Ends: Griffin, Green, Draft, Heat

February 12th, 2014 at 4:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets and Grizzlies once offered their GM jobs to Cavs interim GM David Griffin, notes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, so Cleveland doesn’t exactly have an obscure talent at the helm as the trade deadline nears. Wojnarowski’s piece details some of the missteps of Griffin’s predecessor, Chris Grant, and points to the strong desire that Kyrie Irving held in 2012 for the team to draft Harrison Barnes rather than Dion Waiters. We passed along more from Wojnarowski in a pair of posts last night, and we’ll round up the latest from the NBA here:

Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report hears the Celtics are unlikely to move Jeff Green and have their eyes on building around Green, Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger (Twitter link).
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com thinks Marcus Smart‘s fan-shoving incident has hurt his stock, but the main reason Goodman has Smart at No. 14 in his Insider-only mock draft is because his outside shot hasn’t improved. Goodman also details Bucks GM John Hammond‘s fondness for Joel Embiid and notes Thunder GM Sam Presti‘s affinity for Syracuse forward C.J. Fair.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wonders if the Heat‘s decision to start Toney Douglas Tuesday night was a chance for the team to see what it has in him before the trade deadline. A Tuesday morning report suggested the Heat are prepared to waive Douglas if a more attractive option comes along.
The Nuggets aren’t likely to be particularly active at the deadline, writes Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, but even if they are, coach Brian Shaw says he won’t have much input on the team’s personnel decisions until after the season.
Three-year NBA veteran Will Conroy, who played briefly for the Timberwolves last season, has signed with Rasta Vechta of Germany, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). Conroy recently parted ways with another German team.

Odds & Ends: Griffin, Smart, Moultrie

February 9th, 2014 at 10:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Cavs interim GM David Griffin is looking to establish a positive culture in Cleveland, something his predecessor, Chris Grant, was unable to do despite his best efforts, writes Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Word is that Griffin gave the club a stern message to his underachieving team and when asked about that pep talk during his introductory presser, the exec said, “I wouldn’t want to share what I told them.” More from around the Association..

When asked if the Cavs will be buyers or sellers at the deadline, Griffin said, “I don’t see how you get better and win more games selling…We are dedicated to getting better,” according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter).
Will Marcus Smart‘s draft stock take a hit after his incident with a fan last night? Opinions were split amongst execs that Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports spoke with.
Meanwhile, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (on Twitter) got no indication from executives that Smart’s stock will take a hit and heard mostly positive things about the Oklahoma State star’s character.
The 76ers announced that they recalled forward Arnett Moultrie from the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League. The move was made in advance of tonight’s contest against the Clippers, meaning that Moultrie was able to suit up in L.A. The forward was assigned to the Sevens on February 4 and appeared in three D-League games.
D-League guard Tiny Gallon turned down an opportunity in China to continue his pursuit of an NBA contract, writes Shams Charania of RealGM. The 76ers have maintained dialogue with the 23-year-old throughout the season.

Odds & Ends: Trade Deadline, Roberson, Smart

February 9th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders.com looks at three teams that will definitely be buyers at this years trade deadline. The Suns could look to add a big man, such as Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, Omer Asik, or Carlos Boozer. Acquiring a quality big could push the Suns into the second round of the playoffs, according to Ingram. The Knicks will try to add another star quality player to add alongside Carmelo Anthony, and aren’t likely to deal Anthony despite all the speculation. Ingram believes a point guard, such as Rajon Rondo or Kyle Lowry will be their primary target. He also thinks they will attempt to deal Amar’e Stoudemire to the Celtics. Lastly, he writes that the Bobcats will be looking to upgrade their wing position, and could deal Ben Gordon or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to facilitate a deal.