NBA Free Agency Rumors: Will Marcus Smart Be on the Boston Celtics Roster Next Season?
Smart has already expressed a desire to stay with the Celtics
One of the more interesting free agents who will be on the market this summer is Marcus Smart.
Smart has spent the past four seasons with the Boston Celtics, and within that short period of time, he's managed to endear himself to a demanding fanbase.
The numbers that Smart has put up throughout his Celtics career won't wow anyone, but focusing on that would be selling the 24-year-old guard short.
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As Smart himself indicated while speaking recently to ESPN, not everything he does shows up on the stat sheet, and he considers himself a bit of a rarity because he's a max effort player on the floor all the time.
Smart believes that because of everything he does for the team, he should be worth more than $12–14 million on a yearly basis.
The question that Smart and Celtics fans want to be answered soon is whether the franchise's decision-makers agree with the guard's assessment of his own value.
For what it's worth, Smart recently said that the Celtics are already making plans to retain him, according to a report from A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston.
In an ideal world, the Celtics would probably love to keep a player like Smart on the team, but in the real world, there will be a limit imposed on what they can do.
As Smart already hinted, he wants a big raise from his $4.5 million salary for this season, and it's unclear if the Celtics are willing to provide that.
Because Smart will be a restricted free agent this summer, the Celtics will be able to match any offer he receives from other NBA teams. However, would they really match a contract offer that will pay Smart something in the neighborhood of $60 million over four seasons?
Even without signing any additional player, the Celtics are already set to have over $107 million committed to their roster next season, per Hoops Hype, and that is well over the expected $101 million salary cap.
The Celtics still have room to work with under the tax threshold, but by bringing Smart back on a lucrative multi-year deal, they will significantly limit their financial flexibility moving forward, which is not ideal since they have other players who will need extensions over the next few seasons.
Smart has been a key contributor to the Celtics during his stint with the team, but he's not an irreplaceable player.
By the time next season rolls around, injured All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will likely be ready to start playing again, and they could join a rotation that already features Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier.
Back when the Celtics were still building up their roster, Smart may have been a player they could not afford to lose, but now that they have other guys on the team who can take over his minutes, they may come to the conclusion that his contract wishes are too rich for them.
At this point at least, Smart returning to the Celtics seems entirely possible, but NBA fans should probably not be surprised if the two sides eventually decide to move on from one another.
