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20 best players who could be available at NBA trade deadline

By John Buhler

Feb 6, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) reacts after being called for a foul during the overtime against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Washington Wizards 140-135 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) reacts after being called for a foul during the overtime against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Washington Wizards 140-135 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 10, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart (36) looks on against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Celtics 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart (36) looks on against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Celtics 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Marcus Smart

Point Guard, Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics go on and on about how many interesting assets they have to potentially make deals with. However, the Boston brass has to realize that they’ll have to give up something to get something good. If the Celtics make a trade before the deadline, expect backup point guard Marcus Smart to be one of the guys on the way out of Beantown.

Smart was a former lottery pick by the Celtics out of Oklahoma State in 2014. While he still projects as a strong perimeter defender, he may never become the shooter that Boston hoped to get coming out of Stillwater.

This season, Smart is shooting 31.2 percent on 3-pointers. That’s terrible, as is his field goal percentage of 36.7. Add in that starting point guard Isaiah Thomas is an emerging superstar and shooting guard Avery Bradley is an All-NBA defensive player, it’s easy to see how Smart still isn’t a starter in his third year in the league.

For whatever reason, Stevens has not been able to fully tap into Smart’s potential coming out of college. That being said, there is certainly some team that would want Smart as a prominent return piece in exchange for another superstar going Boston’s way.

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