Trenni Kusnierek is joined by Gary Washburn, Chris Forsberg and Dan Shaughnessy to discuss whether or not Malcolm Brogdon should start point guard over Marcus Smart this season.
Marcus Smart finally got to run the show last season. But now he has another backcourt co-star in Malcolm Brogdon, who hasn't come off the bench in a game since 2018.
Both players seem more than willing to share the spotlight in Boston, however. Brogdon has said he's happy to embrace a reserve role behind Smart at point guard, and Smart insisted this week that he was a big fan of the Celtics' trade for Brogdon.
"I love it,” Smart told The Athletic's Jay King. "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."
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Smart's comments come after a season in which he was finally given the keys to Boston's offense as its lead point guard. He thrived in that role, averaging a career-high 5.9 assists per game while helping the Celtics reach the NBA Finals, and appeared to enjoy proving his doubters wrong.
"I hear the talks about ... ‘They need a star point guard.’ We’ve had star point guards, and yet this so-called non-point guard is the only one that’s led them to the Finals," Smart told The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach in late June.
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Smart will remain the Celtics' starting point guard in 2022-23, but it should be a much more collaborative effort with Brogdon, Derrick White and potentially Payton Pritchard all working into the rotation. While you could argue there may not be enough playing time to go around, Smart views Boston's deep backcourt rotation as a positive.
"I think everybody can always use more depth," Smart told King. "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."
The Celtics are talented enough to return to the NBA Finals after adding Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari to an already well-rounded core. But they'll need buy-in from everyone on their roster if they want to achieve that goal -- and it appears they have it.
“We were this close," Smart added to King. "We really think that Malcolm’s a great fit and Gallo to help us get over that hump."