COJ: Russ doesn't appear to want to be BFF's with Marcus Smart

Reporter: Russ, Marcus Smart played well. You often can wear down some people. He seems like one of those guys that can, physically, match up with you to some degree. Is there anything special about the way he played you tonight?
Westbrook: Uh, no. I don't agree with you, but no. He had a good game. And there's 82 games. I do this. Don't get it twisted.

There's this new commercial they've been playing during the NFL season, which is to say there's this new commercial that's played about five hundred times every Sunday where one of those mall diamond companies (it could be Kay or Zales or Jared, I don't care enough to research) offers not one BUT two diamonds; one for your partner and one for your best friend.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Russell Westbrook will not be purchasing said diamond/s for Marcus Smart. For those who haven't or can't watch the video, there's a true level of saltiness to Westbrook's comments; it's not simply a 'next question' kind of thing, there's a clear level of irritation in his voice that was brought on by the physical play of a person he clearly doesn't care for.

It's not hard to understand why. Not only was Smart excellent on the offensive court, including a career high in points (26), but he was stifling on defense; limiting the All-Star guard to zero points in eight field goal attempts in the final 17 minutes.

Start Your Morning Off With... This DeMarcus Cousins fella, ya'all heard of him?

Monday Trade Machine

The Boston Celtics need some help from beyond the arc.

With a logjam at nearly every position and a roster full of swiss army knives, the Boston Celtics are in a position to offer malleable talent to any team in hopes of improving from long range.

Trade Idea: Evan Turner to Chicago in exchange Doug McDermott and E'Twaun Moore to make the numbers work.

Why This Works: Once Mike Dunleavy returns from his back injury, things are going to get a lot more crowded in Chi-Town at Small Forward. Doug McDermott, in his sophomore year with the Bulls, has stepped into the starting line up and has been shooting very well in the start of the season. His defense however, is not great at all. It's actually pretty bad. If you dig around the Bulls bloggosphere the word "liability" comes up quite a bit when researching Dougie's defense.

So why target a guy like this? The Celtics, defensively, are a fantastic team currently holding a 95.4 Defensive Efficiency rating. Where they need help is from 3-point land, where Dougie McBuckets is lighting it up.

In Evan Turner, the Bulls would get a versatile player who has proven he can contribute on both sides of the ball and from multiple positions. The Chicago Bulls have been one of the most injury plagued teams in the league over the past few seasons, so adding a player like Turner who can fill in gaps with his swiss army knife skill set would help to plug any holes opened up by the inevitable Bulls rash of injuries. Not to mention he's from Chicago... who doesn't love a hometown guy on their team?

This deal improve the Celtics from beyond the arc, adds another low cost high reward player to a young roster, and adds depth at the small forward position. Turner has been a bright spot on the Celtics, but suffers from odd-man-out syndrome, which will touch almost every Celtic this season. As Boston continues to refine their squad, adding a potential specialist in exchange for a strong utility player could be a step in the right direction.