Houston Rockets should make a move for Marcus Smart

After losing Patrick Beverley in a trade for Chris Paul, the Houston Rockets should make a move for Marcus Smart.

Since trading for Chris Paul a week ago, the Houston Rockets are in dire need for a backup point guard.

So much so, if the season began today, Houston would be looking at Bobby Brown or Isaiah Taylor as their point guards for the second unit. No disrespect to both players, but having Brown and Taylor will only result in another first round exit.

Despite not having much money to work with, the Rockets are continuously trying to upgrade their roster for the 2018 season.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Rockets are working hard to flip their nonguaranteed contracts for players or assets for the upcoming year:

The Houston Rockets are working to flip their $10M in non-guaranteed contracts for players or assets, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2017

Sure, Carmelo Anthony has been Houston’s primary target since the Chris Paul trade. But without a general manager at the moment, it’s going to take the Knicks sometime before they can work out a deal for the 10-time all-star.

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While playing the waiting game with New York, Daryl Morey should not let the Knicks hinder him from enhancing his roster. In order for the Rockets to continue improving their roster, they must make signing a pure point guard to run their second unit.

Furthermore, with the Boston Celtics making Marcus Smart available, perhaps Morey should take a look at the former lottery pick.

After missing out on Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Blake Griffin, the Celtics have finally found their guy. Late Tuesday afternoon, Gordon Hayward agreed to a four-year max deal with the Celtics.

Although he made his decision as a free agent, Boston must clear enough cap space before the Hayward era can officially begin in Beantown.

According to Woj, since the announcement, the Celtics are “aggressively” trying to create cap space by shopping Smart, Jae Crowder, and Avery Bradley. Although Crowder and Bradley may look more pleasing, Smart would be the perfect backup point guard the Rockets need for a championship run.

At 23-years-old, Smart is coming off his best season of his young NBA career. He averaged a career-best 10.6 points/4.6 assists per game and played an important role in the Celtics’ Eastern Conference Finals run last season.

Although his offensive game has yet to catch up to the pro-level, Smart has already established himself as one of the league’s top perimeter defenders in three short years. And with the loss of Patrick Beverley, this is one aspect the Rockets must fill ASAP!

During the 2016-17 season, Smart’s tenacious defense was on full display as he ranked in the top 15 in steals averaging 1.58 swipes per game. Smart also has a defensive rating of 104.7, which is good enough for Top 50 in the league. Eric Gordon was the only Rocket that had a similar rating at 104.6, a tenth of a point difference.

Set aside his offensive inconsistencies, Smart is a rising star in this league. And if giving the chance to play alongside Chris Paul for a year, Smart’s game will, in fact, improve drastically in a year.

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At the moment, it is unclear what Boston’s asking price for Smart would be. Yet, given the circumstances, the Celtics would be more than willing to take a few of Houston’s nonguaranteed contracts to make room for Gordon Hayward.

For a player set to make $6 million in the final year of his rookie contract, this would be an absolute steal for the Houston Rockets.

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