How Marcus Smart will drive winning for the Memphis Grizzlies
How Marcus Smart will drive winning for the Memphis Grizzlies
Marcus Smart was brought in to guide the young Memphis Grizzlies to a championship. His versatility, edge, and experience should drive them towards its goals.
The Memphis Grizzlies had a list of criteria for players they were looking to add to this talented young group:
Lockdown defense
Positional versatility
More playmaking
Battle-tested at the highest levels of the NBA
It led them to Marcus Smart, a player Zach Kleiman and the Grizzlies organization identified as “the very best of them that checks all those boxes.”
“What are the aspirational best-case scenarios for who we could potentially add to this group, how do we elevate the approach we’re taking, who are the individuals who can drive winning and fit in a meaningful way? When we were putting names on that board, There was no one higher than Marcus.” - Zach Kleiman
Though considered a “pie-in-the-sky” trade possibility, due to Boston’s willingness to engage on a deal with a foundational cultural pillar, Kleiman acquired a top target for this organization, and it’s clear to see why they prioritized Marcus Smart.
The former Defensive Player of the Year developing a knack for guarding any of the league’s elite, and causing chaos with his intensity. He’s a player on both sides of the ball, capable of adapting to different roles as a lead guard or as a wing. And when it comes to playoff experience, this is a guy who’s been through battles — never missing the playoffs in his entire career, and making 5 trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in the past 7 years.
For a team that exited last season seeking veteran guidance, Marcus Smart is the caliber of player that can help the Grizzlies drive closer to their goal of winning. NBA championship.
On-Ball Offense
Marcus Smart’s rim pressure is secondary to his offense, but opens up his primary skills here. He’s made strides in his finishing at the rim, shooting 64 and 65% there the past two seasons — including 71% (27/38) last postseason, per Cleaning the Glass. He doesn’t have a crazy bag, but he’s a decisive driver that leverages solid ball-handling with physicality — like a running back fighting for a 1st down on short yardage.
Smart’s rim pressure opens up drive-and-kick situations, hitting open shooters as the defense rotates to help in the paint. He ranked in the 87th percentile in the drive pass out rate, kicking the ball on nearly half his drives (49%), per The B-Ball Index.
His drives can be a detriment, as he could be caught out of control when gaining steam downhill. His lack of ideal size and vertical pop don’t help either.
Nonetheless, his improvements and pressure at the rim are needed for this team, since Ja Morant and Desmond Bane are the only perimeter players with that sort of presence off the dribble.
Smart’s playmaking became amplified with more on-ball responsibilities. He topped his previous career high in assists in each of the past 4 seasons— rising from 4.9 to 6.3 between 2019 and 2023. He’s emerged as one of the league’s most underrated passing talents.
Smart has an impeccable ability to hit cutters on the move, displaying precision and showcasing sauce on his dishes to his teammates.
“I love to get guys open,” Smart said. “I love to find guys and create a shot for the guys. I see the floor differently than certain guys.”
His playmaking, specifically through lead passes to teammates, shines in multiple scenarios. Off side actions, he dissects defenses off closeouts or in give-and-go’s by simply making the extra pass. He’s a grab-and-go player off turnovers or rebounds, pushing the ball in transition to set up teammates running the floor.
Smart’s pick-and-roll prowess is fascinating, because of how it creates looks for his teammates. Last season, Smart generated 1.144 points per possession (PPP) in pick-and-roll situations that included passes — only Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Luka Doncic tallied more points per PNR play. The Celtics boasted a 61.6% effective field goal percentage in Smart-led pick-and-rolls — only Durant, Curry, and Joe Ingles were more efficient, per Synergy Sports.
It stems from Boston emphasizing spacing and shooting, but he’s methodical in the pick-roll — probing the defense off the screen to kick to shooters open after the low man tags the roller. The Grizzlies are a frequent pick-and-roll team, spearheaded by Morant’s ruthless pain attack and Steven Adams’ boulder-like screens. And while Smart won’t be orchestrating the offense the majority of the time, he provides optionality in this system because of his playmaking.
Smart’s creativity at times could backfire. He ranked in the 11th percentile in turnover percentage among guards this past year — per Cleaning the Glass — and that mark was also the 9th-worst among players qualified for the minutes per game leaderboard. Daring, creative playmakers tend to try to squeeze the passes into tight windows, and it has shaky results.
Though he doesn’t quarterback an offense like a turnover-immune Tyus Jones, Smart’s growing prowess as a playmaker should help the Grizzlies stay the course through Morant’s 25-game suspension or any other absence in its star backcourt.
Off-Ball
While Smart was technically the Celtics’ point guard, he served more as a complementary player rather than a high-usage initiator, which should alleviate anyone’s concerns of his positional fit with Morant and Bane.
In this film study, I became enamored with his screening. Sometimes, his screening could’ve been more of a brush to generate a switch. However, he possesses great screening acumen for a traditional guard. His frame allows him to be a more effective screener. From there, it opens up multiple possibilities.
His screening can help create mismatches against switch-heavy defenses, since most teams often “hide” inferior perimeter defenders on him.
Smart could also attack in short-roll sequences, a similar strategy contenders deploy with smaller guards. In Boston, most teams trapped Brown or Tatum out of pick-and-roll’s — and it could be the case here with Morant or Bane. Short-rolls put Smart at the head of a 4-on-3 attack, leading to a scoring opportunity for himself or for his teammates against the scrambling defense.
Smart won’t be a screener often, but it’s a nice wrinkle to add some variance to the halfcourt offense.
Smart’s outside shooting is more of a wild card. His volume helps his shooting gravity, while his percentages are mediocre. However, he’s a guy who tends to elevate his 3-point shooting in the playoffs.
Last 2 seasons: 33.3% on 5.3 attempts per game -> 35.5% on 6.3 attempts
Corners: 34% → 56% (20/36) last season; 38% → 43% in 2021-22
Catch-and-shoot: 34.4% (4.5 attempts) → 39.6% (4.5 attempts)
While he isn’t a lights-out shooter, his mechanics are sound. With his shooting volume, he’s a candidate to explode from 3 in any given night, which could possibly swing a game — or a series.
At the same time, he does fire a lot of 3’s for a subpar shooter. Sometimes, it’s by default as a late-clock option, but others are from firing too early in the shot clock or with too tight of a contest. While the shots are ill-advised, he doesn’t totally disrupt the flow of the offense.
Overall offensively, while it may not be pretty all the time, Smart’s intersection of these skills enhances his fit and potential impact in Grizzlies’ offense. His playmaking alleviates creation responsibilities from Morant and Bane and allows them to operate off the ball. His prowess as a passer in the pick-and-roll should help accomplish Taylor Jenkins’ evergreen goal of shooting more 3’s, and his effectiveness as a screener should make life a smidge easier for its star backcourt — and add some spice to halfcourt offense. Because he’s a viable threat from deep, he can leverage it by attacking closeouts and help turn good shots into great ones, as defenses have to pay mind to his outside shooting and rim pressure.
Marcus Smart will make life easier for its young cornerstones, while providing a boost to the team’s halfcourt offense.
Defense
The calling card of his career, Marcus Smart’s defense is impeccable. His positional and role versatility are great chess pieces for his coaches to use for adjustments — as he’s a defender capable of taking on just about any matchup in the league, and of impacting that side of the floor in any capacity.
Smart is projected to served as the team’s primary stopper. Skeptics will ask if he has the physical chops to defend opposing wings. It shouldn’t be much of a concern because of his physicality and 6’9” wingspan.
He bothers bigger players that try to drive on him, and offers a formidable contest as well. He’s air-tight on his matchup to prevent them from getting comfortable — regardless of who’s in front of him.
“If I’m on the court, and you’re in front of me, that’s all that matters. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care how big you are, I don’t care how small you are. If you’re in front of me, my job is to try to stop you. Plain and simple. And I’m going to do that to the best of my abilities. And I like to think I’m very good at it, so I’m going to continue doing that. I’ve proven myself time and time again.” — Marcus Smart
In addition, Smart’s track record speaks for itself. In a given series, he can go from guarding Jrue Holiday to Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden to Joel Embiid, Kyle Lowry to Jimmy Butler. His positional versatility is unmatched for a player of his size.
Against primary ball-handlers, he doesn’t fall asleep to their lulling dribbles or get blasted by screens, remaining active on the ball. On drives, he utilizes his physicality to avoid them getting to their spots.
Jimmy Butler and James Harden are the best players to gauge defense against star wings. He didn’t get a whole lot of time against Butler the past two playoffs, but he matched his physicality and aimed to force the ball out of his hands on drives. Against Harden, he stayed attached to him — whether it was in the pick-and-roll or off drives. He also didn’t fall victim to his step-back 3, closing out on it carefully to avoid fouling.
In 2022 Finals, Steph Curry shot 34% (18/53) from the field and 25% (8/32) from 3 with Marcus Smart as the primary defender. He demonstrated great screen navigation, both on and off the ball, and managed to not give Curry room to comfortably fire from 3. As Curry loves to get to his spots with his strength and balance, Smart leveraged his physicality and contact absorption in order to cut him off downhill.
Smart had defensive moments against Giannis and Embiid — not from switching, straight-up matchups. He sets a low center of gravity to absorb contact and to avoid getting pushed to a spot. He keeps his hands active to muck up the post-up as well. The goals with these actions are to make the big man uncomfortable and force them to settle. While he won’t primarily defend the league’s elite big men, his toolbox in those situations makes him a viable switcher in these events.
Marcus Smart is a solid pick-and-roll defender due to his screen navigation and his switching. He ranks in the 97th percentile in the B-Ball Index’s screen navigation. His frame allows him to fight through screens, and he also swims through them by spinning under the screen and recovering on the ball-handler.
A goal for Taylor Jenkins this year is to switch more, especially with “anchors” like Smart and Jaren Jackson Jr. His physicality and tenacity allow him to really handle guard-big switches — and when ball-handlers seek a mismatch down low, Smart battles for positioning to knock away passes and force turnovers. Sometimes, he starts possessions on the likely screener in order to switch onto ball-handlers. His switching ability is attributed to his defensive awareness and communication, areas that should only be enhanced as he develops chemistry with his teammates and familiarity with the system.
When Smart isn’t tasked with guarding the opponent’s premier perimeter talent, he’s an active help defender. At times, he’s slotted as the low man to help off drives and to serve as another back-line communicator. The Grizzlies would likely need another young wing to step up as a stopper to deploy a similar strategy.
Smart’s help defense shines at the nail, where he generates a chunk of defensive events. He possesses instinctual timing when jumping into passing lanes and turning defense into offense — a staple of the Grizzlies’ defensive system. He averages 1.6 steals per game in his career, and he generated 2.9 deflections per 75 possessions last year — 81st percentile, per The B-Ball Index.
Diving into a thrilling element of his defense, Marcus Smart embraces charges. His rationale on taking charges is sound. In his introductory press conference, he pointed out how the charge is the part of the game where 4 things are done correctly:
A personal foul on the guy that drove
Team foul
9/10, driver is other team’s best player, so foul against them
Momentum changer
And momentum changers can often swing a game, and it could also alter the mindset of the opposing team.
“Now you got guys thinking when they come into the lane, I got to be aware because this guy might come out of nowhere and take a charge, and I already got 2 fouls. I can’t pick up a 3rd. Now it’s a mental thing. That’s why a charge is so important, and may be the most important play in the game.” - Smart
Defensively, Marcus Smart is going to be a thrilling agent of chaos — a perfect complement for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. He’ll be tasked with being the team’s premier stopper, while also creating defense events to generate cycles. His ability to shift into different roles and matchups will be pivotal for adjustments down the road in playoff series.
All in all, Marcus Smart is a freaking winner. Each night, he’s someone you can count on to put it all on the line — fly around for 50/50 balls, put his body on the line for charges, hustle back for a big transition stop, and set up his teammates for success.
Those sequences are massive momentum-changers — ones that’ll make everyone say, “let’s [blanking] go,” as Taylor Jenkins described the acquisition of Smart. He simply impacts winning basketball with his edge.
“Having Marcus really driving winning as a significant part of this is a major driver of something we were hoping to accomplish this offseason.” - Kleiman
Marcus Smart fits the ethos the Memphis Grizzlies seek in their players. As Jenkins describes often about his players, Smart is the “ultimate competitor,” has the “highest basketball IQ,” and is super selfless. His skillset coupled with his experience should enhance what the Grizzlies have built this era.
“Marcus is going to elevate everything that we have already built the last 4 years.” - Taylor Jenkins
Because of his amplified playmaking, his defensive versatility, his chaos creation, and his battles the past decade, Smart is a vital veteran that will drives this Grizzlies team towards its elusive goal of bringing a championship to Memphis.
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