Free agency preview: Will Marcus Smart’s inefficiency detract Suns?

Free agency is less than a week away and Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said the team will look at adding a point guard and a stretch-four. Empire of the Suns will look at a few specific players in each group before breaking down the two groups as a whole.

If the Phoenix Suns want to fulfill their desire for a dramatic turnaround within two years, they are going to need to do it with players like Boston Celtics restricted free agent guard Marcus Smart.

Smart, 24, is one the league’s five best players when it comes to intangibles, on top of being an outstanding perimeter defender. His defense fits right in with today’s switching, as he’s the best guard in the NBA at guarding bigger small forwards and smaller power forwards.

Do not readjust your dial thinking this is the NFL Draft when we discuss what Smart does for his basketball team. We need to use a more aggressive adverb than “consistently” to describe how often Smart is making that one winning play, whether it’s getting that big rebound, diving on the floor for a crucial steal or unexpectedly hitting a big 3-pointer.

He has done it over and over and over again in Boston, most recently in huge games. Not many guys can get a highlight video for an 11-point performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but Smart can.

The two-play run timestamped above perfectly defines Smart. He has an open three-pointer but loses the ball on his release. He then, in mid-air, flings a pass to the open man, turning his knee while doing so. As he gets up and recovers, he still has his eyes locked on LeBron James and manages to deflect his quick outlet for a free steal and assist at the end of the half.

Before and after the play, Smart can barely get down on the court on that leg, but in that four seconds he needs to make a play, he does.

That’s why he’s worth a reported $12-14 million per year despite essentially playing the role of a spark plug with offensive woes.

And when we say woes, boy oh boy do we mean woes.

Per Basketball Reference, when we look at players in the 3-point era since the 1979-80 season that have attempted at least 1,000 field goals, Smart has the third-worst field goal percentage at 36.0 percent.

When we do the same with 3-point field goal attempts, Smart ranks as the eighth-worst with a 29.3 three-point percentage.

He is a historically awful shooter.

But, Smart still has value on that end.

He has improved as a passer over the course of his rookie deal, jumping from 4.0 assists per 36 minutes two seasons ago to 5.8 this year. He is by no means a natural point guard but that’s a passable number.

Smart’s a solid downhill driver, using his stocky build to keep separation from his on-ball defender to make the right passes.

While he only gets to the line 3.2 times a game over the course of his career, he is a 75.6 career free-throw percentage shooter.

He’s also not scared to shoot, like, ever, which is certainly a detriment at times but it doesn’t hurt to have those guys on your team.

Believe me, as the president, chairman and CEO of the “please put shooters around Devin Booker” club, I’m as surprised as you are when I say I can buy into the Suns going after Smart in restricted free agency.

Operating under the assumption the Suns see a real role for Brandon Knight next year, Knight can serve as the offensive-minded point guard to start games and allow Smart to come off the bench and do all the Marcus Smart things. Smart could alongside either Knight or Booker in the backcourt.

With the selection of Mikal Bridges, the Suns can do two things with long-term thinking and more development from the youngsters that maximize the value of Smart.

They can play Bridges and Dragan Bender for most of the minutes at power forward, leaving a plus-shooter at a big position to make up for the questionable spacing an inefficient point guard brings. Or, they can play the two of them together for even more shooting while Smart is on the floor.

Phoenix can also have two of Smart, Bridges and Josh Jackson playing at all times, giving them two dynamite perimeter defensive options who can all switch on up to four positions.

Playing all three of them together — or Smart much with Jackson or T.J. Warren at all — is brutal for spacing, though, and would have to rely on the creativity of first-year coach Igor Kokoskov.

Smart is a restricted free agent, which is notable considering the Suns’ current cap situation.

If they were to do the expected and renounce Alex Len and Elfrid Payton, on top of releasing non-guaranteed deals to Shaquille Harrison, Tyler Ulis and Alan Williams, they would have over $16 million in cap space this summer.

That’s right on the nose of what you might have to offer Smart to get Boston to let him go, and for all we know, might not be enough.

Should the Suns do that for a player who might be the latest example of someone being maximized under Celtics head coach Brad Stevens?

It’s a really tough question to answer, but the Suns want to win next year and there isn’t a player in their free-agent price range that will help them do that more than Smart.

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