Report: Nuggets dangling Mudiay for Smart, Celtics want 1st-rounder

The Boston Celtics have made point guard Marcus Smart available in a trade, and the Denver Nuggets are interested, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.

The Nuggets are dangling their own shooting-challenged backup point guard, Emmanuel Mudiay, but the Celtics are holding firm to their demand for a first-round draft pick in exchange for Smart, according to Stein.

Smart and Mudiay would be an interesting swap, as they're two former high lottery picks (the Celtics took Smart sixth overall in 2014, while the Nuggets nabbed Mudiay with the seventh pick a year later) who have been frustrating in similar ways and could possibly benefit from a change of scenery.

Neither player has shot better than 40 percent from the field in a season, though Mudiay has shown some ability to shoot from 3-point range (he's at 36.6 percent from deep this year). Mudiay, though, has struggled at both ends of the floor and has some of the most damning on-off splits in the league, while Smart has been an ace defender capable of guarding three positions who makes the Celtics better when he's on the floor.

The two teams need different things, as the defensively dominant Celtics rank a pedestrian 17th in offense and the offensively explosive Nuggets rank 23rd in defense.

Mudiay also comes with an extra year of team control, while Smart is headed for restricted free agency this summer - which is the main reason the Celtics are shopping him now. Smart is also currently sidelined with a hand laceration he suffered while punching a picture frame in frustration.