Celtics and Hawks reportedly discussed Marcus Smart trade

Marcus Smart has returned to the Celtics line-up and the team has looked great the past two games. Are the turning a corner or will they remain the underwhelming .500 team they've been the past two seasons? As President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens job is to do his due diligence and with Marcus Smart becoming eligible to be traded this week, the Celtics head honcho reportedly did at least engage in talks with one team for the Team's longest tenured player.

Another interesting Hawks tidbit: Before Atlanta sent Reddish to New York, the Hawks and Celtics discussed a framework that would have swapped Marcus Smart for Kevin Heurter and Reddish, sources said. It's unclear how far that dialogue progressed.

The Hawks of course ended up trading Reddish to the Knicks for a 1st rounder. It's unclear which team proposed the Smart for Huerter and Reddish swap or who turned it down. Either way, it's nice to see that Stevens isn't just giving away assets like he did with the Alperen Sengun pick.

Over the past couple seasons, there have been Smart trade rumors involving moving him for a 1st rounder, so considering the Hawks obtained a 1st for just Reddish, this proposal seems to have been pretty fair on the Celtics end. Of course, it all depends how you value the soon to be 28 years old Marcus Smart.

If you value Smart as the heart and soul of this Celtics team who makes the winning hustle plays that only he can and you believe he's the long term answer for Boston as the starting point guard, then you're happy this deal didn't go down. If you're the opposite and think his winning plays only cancel out his bonehead plays, then you probably wish this trade took place.

If you are more objective and in the middle, you probably are happy to see that Stevens has a fair value on any Smart trade and are open to moving him, but only in the right deal.

The NBA trade deadline is 2 weeks away. There will be lots of rumors between now and then, and as always most rumors don't come to fruition, but some deals will go down throughout the league, so buckle up!