Boston Celtics: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

4. Marcus Smart has been a steal on this contract

Following his first four seasons, it was difficult to put a number value on Marcus Smart’s worth. He’s miraculously been both a beacon of inconsistency and among the Celtics’ most reliable players during their swift rebuild.

Due to his relatively low statical output and middling percentages, there was a cap on the kind of money he could expect to get going into the 2018 offseason. There was no denying he has an impact like few others on the defensive end, but in the words of Jabari Parker, “They don’t pay players to play defense“.

He’s only gotten better on defense, finally validated with a All-Defensive First Team nod. He had the most defensive win shares in his five-year career this season at 3.1, good for second-best on the Celtics, the sixth-best team defense by defensive rating. He passes the eye test as well as anyone in the league, with his ferociousness on the perimeter and ability to defend 1-4 as a 6’4” guard positively impacting the Celtics almost as much as anything else any other player brings to the table.

His shooting has improved, too. This season, Smart smashed his previous totals. His 56.8 true shooting percentage is far above his second-highest mark in that area, his rookie season’s 49.1 percent.

He will always be a defense-first player, but Smart’s strides on offensive make his current four-year, $51.9 million contract more than worth every penny. As a key part to the Celtics’ young core, Smart’s cost-to-impact ratio will help the team for years to come.