Reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics answered a series of questions related to his team in an interview with CLNS Media on Saturday.

After the Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the NBA Finals last season, Smart revealed that he was playing with an injured ankle during the series. As the team's most important perimeter defender, Smart not only had to chase Stephen Curry over layers of screens, he also shouldered heavy duties in switching and help defense. The ankle injury would understandably hold him back.

"My ankle is feeling better, it's still healing, so I'm dealing with that," Smart said. "Just giving it as much rest as I can, but definitely back on the court. I'm definitely back into the action. It feels like yesterday we just started playing, we haven't really missed a beat, but I'm definitely doing everything I can to be ready for next season and to go deeper."

"I'm pretty close (to 100 percent), obviously it's September, you don't want to be in June, July, May shape right now so I'm trying not to go too crazy, but I'm really close and I've been doing this going into my ninth season. So for me, I know exactly what I need and what I need to get myself ready so I'll so be there," he added.

The Celtics were drawn into the Kevin Durant trade drama during the offseason and once were willing to put Jalen Brown into the package for Durant. The deal didn't happen in the end as Durant decided to stay with the Brooklyn Nets, but many believe Browns' feelings were already hurt by the Celtics. It may affect the team's atmosphere in the locker room, similar to what the Chicago Bulls went through in the 2007-08 season thanks to the Kobe Bryant trade rumor.

"(Brown's) handled it great," Smart told CLNS. "He walks around with a smile on his face. We actually haven't even mentioned it when we were together. We were just talking about the upcoming season and getting ourselves ready, but he's great. He's handling it as professionally as he can and my advice is, to anybody, don't forget it's a business first. When you're doing business, personal stuff has to go out the window and can't be the issue, so you can't look at it like that.

"If your name is up there in trade talks, I look at it as a compliment. It means teams want you. That's a good thing. The problem is if your name is not (in rumors), nobody wants you. So that's how I'm looking at it and that's how people should look at it. It's tough, I understand it, but just because it's going on, you never know. Anything can happen," he added.

Two of the major reasons behind the Celtics' loss to the Warriors during the Finals were their lack of a true orchestrator and a short bench. In order to fix them, the team traded with the Indiana Pacers for Malcolm Brogdon and signed free agent veteran Danilo Gallinari during the offseason.

However, Gallinari tore the ACL in his left knee last week during the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier game against Georgia. The 34-year-old Italian is likely to miss the whole 2022-23 season, just like he did when he suffered the same injury nine years ago.

"I haven't talked to him, I've been doing a lot, but (I was) definitely was keeping up with him," Smart said of Gallinari. "You never want to see anybody get hurt, let alone on your team, but anybody. Somebody like Gallo who's coming in and was going to help us tremendously, it definitely pushes us back a little bit, but it's the NBA, we're professionals, we have other guys on the roster and it's time for them to step up."

Brogdon cannot match Smart on the defensive front but he is a better orchestrator. Neither is trustworthy in 3-point shooting. That brings up a question: Which of them should be in the starting lineup? If both are on the court, they will do too much damage to the Celtics' spacing. If one has to play off the bench, it will take some effort to convince him to accept that role.

"My girlfriend is actually really good friends with his brother's girlfriend, so I've kind of known Malcolm for a while and (he's a) cool guy," Smart said of Brogdon. "I love his game. I love everything he brings. When I'm playing against him, I love it, I'm constantly talking to him. Just the challenge that he brings, he allows me to be the better version of myself. I think it's a perfect fit. He provides some of the things that we're going to need and it definitely takes pressure off of me, Jayson and Jaylen."

Smart is entering his ninth NBA season. He was drafted by the Celtics with the sixth overall pick in 2014. Since then, he has averaged 10.5 points, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals while being selected to the All-Defensive First Team three times and the Second Team once. Smart last season became the second point guard in NBA history to win DPOY since Gary Payton.