Celtics are about to make Marcus Smart a very well-paid backup
By Kareem Gantt
Elsewhere in NBA free agency, Marcus Smart is about to get paid.
In any other cosmic universe, it would be considered crazy to give Marcus Smart $50 million dollars just to be a backup. And yet, that’s what he is set to get from the Boston Celtics.
In what may be considered either smart or insane, the Celtics and Smart are “seriously engaged” in contract talks that will see the point guard stack some serious green. According to NBA soothsayer Adrian Wojnarowski, Danny Ainge is ready to keep his spark plug in Beantown for the foreseeable future.
So, one question needs a truthful answer: Why? The answer to that question is actually clear-cut — the free agency market for Smart has all but dried up and $46-$50 million over four years must seem like a good enough price for Boston.
Aside from the Kawhi Leonard drama and “Decision 3.0,” this was going to be a tight market for restricted free agents, and if Smart wanted big money from a contender, then he simply wasn’t going to find it outside of Boston.
That is if the Celtics even wanted him back.
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Thanks to the emergence of Terry Rozier as a starter-worthy point guard and the return of Kyrie Irving, there were questions as to if the Celtics would entertain bringing Smart back on board. And, to be quite honest, the only reason the Celtics are in discussions to bring him back is that they can sign him on the cheap.
If a team like, oh, the Sacramento Kings would have offered him $78 million, like they foolishly did with Zach LaVine, do you really think that the Celtics would have matched that offer? If so, then Ainge should have been committed to a mental institution, ASAP.
As it stands, though, the Celtics will have a three-headed monster at point guard next season, although it could be costly, both in their wallet and with keeping Rozier in the rotation after next season. But, in order to secure their place on top of the East food chain, this signing was necessary, as expensive as it is.