The Boston Celtics have some work to do over the 2023 NBA offseason. After falling just short of pulling off the first ever 3-0 comeback in NBA Playoff history, the C's are still looking to find a way to get themselves over the hump to win a championship. Arguably the top item on their to-do list this offseason involves clearing out their backlogged guard depth chart, with Malcolm Brogdon, Payton Pritchard, and even Marcus Smart appearing to be legitimate trade candidates.

To this point, Brogdon and Pritchard appear to be the most likely trade candidates of this group. Brogdon's base salary for the upcoming season is the highest among the guards on this roster, while Pritchard has been vocal in his desire to get moved to a team that will play him more. Derrick White is arguably the Celtics third best player, and Smart is the heart and soul of their team.

While Brogdon and Pritchard continue to be floated in the majority of the Celtics trade rumors at this point, the C's would actually be better off holding on to at least Brogdon this offseason. That's because, after years of speculation, it's finally time for Boston to find a way to get rid of Smart.

Why the Celtics must trade Marcus Smart rather than Malcolm Brogdon

For the most part, Pritchard's trade status has no bearing on Brogdon or Smart's. Pritchard was a backend of the bench player last season, and while minutes could open up for him if one of these two guys are dealt, he still could get traded either way. For the purpose of this conversation, we won't get too caught up in his trade possibilities.

Despite getting picked up in a trade with the Indiana Pacers just last offseason, it already seems like Brogdon's tenure with the Celtics could be over. Brogdon was just what Boston needed off their bench throughout the season (14.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 48.4 FG%, 44.4 3P%) and ended up winning the Sixth Man of the Year award for his play.

However, it goes without saying that Brogdon probably got cast in a role he was too large for. After starting every game he played over the past four seasons, Brogdon didn't start a single game for Boston last season. Starting Smart and White over him made sense, but Brogdon saw his minutes per game get slashed from 33.5 to 26 thanks to his new role with his new team.

Even though he was playing in a smaller role, Brogdon turned in one of the best seasons of his career for Boston. His offense off the bench was precisely what they needed, and he was versatile enough on defense to fit their scheme perfectly. If he didn't get injured early in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, the Celtics probably would have made it to the NBA Finals for the second straight season.

On the other hand, this season was more of the same from Marcus Smart, who continues to prove he is not a player capable of being a consistent source of offense for this team. Smart's per game averages pale in comparison to Brogdon's (11.5 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.1 RPG, 41.5 FG%, 33.6 3P%), and while he is used as the facilitator of the offense, Brogdon is probably a better playmaker than Smart; he just was never used in that role for the C's.

Smart's calling card has always been his defense, but even then, he wasn't particularly great on that end of the floor this season. He was dealing with some injury concerns throughout the season, but Smart was getting torched by speedy guards that were running right by him into the paint for easy looks. After winning Defensive Player of the Year last season, this was a shocking step back from Smart.

The money argument makes sense, especially with supermax deals for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum lurking, but it's safe to say that Brogdon is the better player than Smart. Throughout the season, the Celtics gave Smart starts simply because of his standing with the team, but they ignored the fact that both Brogdon and White were outplaying him by a large margin on the court.

The gap in salary between these two is just around $4 million, which isn't really a good enough reason to trade Brogdon over Smart. Smart's deal also continues to escalate in value throughout the remainder of its three years, while Brogdon is a free agent next offseason. The salary cap will be an issue for the Celtics in the future, but they can free up that $4 million difference in a handful of different ways.

Giving Brogdon a bigger role will undoubtedly make Boston a better team, whereas sticking with Smart doesn't really move the needle. They can probably still win a title if they keep Smart and move Brogdon to pick up a two-way wing to fill in their rotation, but things probably get easier if they bite the bullet and opt to finally move on from Smart.

Boston has done everything in their power to keep Smart on their roster, even with his wildly inconsistent play throughout his career. But at some point, this team has to be more concerned with winning than keeping their longest-tenured player happy. It's a very tough decision, but Marcus Smart should be the guard the Celtics are looking to unload this offseason, not Malcolm Brogdon.