Through two weeks of training camp, first in Las Vegas then in Los Angeles, through one intrasquad scrimmage and one exhibition game, Marcus Smart has sat in street clothes.
The Celtics guard has a calf injury that has sidelined him. On Thursday in Los Angeles he took part in the shooting parts of practice during training camp, but not the full-contact scrimmages against the select team. All he could really do was this.
😱 @smart_MS3 makes it look easy! #USAGotGame #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/JqFVFLWK0x
— NBA (@NBA) August 15, 2019
Friday night he never got out of his warmups and did not play against Spain, but he did say on the broadcast he would be back.
Turns out, he was cleared to be back the next day according to Mark Stein of the New York Times.
As they prepare to leave the country today, Team USA gets one roster boost to counter the unexpected departure of De'Aaron Fox: Marcus Smart, I'm told, has been cleared to make a full return to the court from the calf injury that has sidelined him for the past week-plus
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 17, 2019
This takes away a little of the sting of De’Aaron Fox deciding to withdraw from the team just before it left on Saturday for Australia.
It also means four Celtics are on the USA roster: Smart, Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. USA assistant coach Steve Kerr jokingly said to me last week he asked Brad Stevens for a thank you gift for running Celtics mini-camp.
Smart is one of the 13 players headed down under for a series of tune-up games before the World Cup (against Australia and Canada). If he’s fully healthy enough to go, Smart is a lock to make the roster because of his physical perimeter defense and ability to shoot the three (36 percent last season in the NBA, and the international line is a little closer in). He likely would come off the bench at the two behind Donovan Mitchell.
