While the Los Angeles Lakers added a bevy of guards and wings this offseason, they’ll certainly be hard-pressed to replace Marcus Smart
, whose defense and playmaking on both ends of the floor were integral to their success last year.Smart agreed to a two-year, $12.4 million deal with the Houston Rockets during free agency. Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle recently spoke with Smart about that decision, which Smart said, among other factors, was influenced by plenty of friends and family being
in Houston, just four hours south of his hometown in Flower Mound, Texas.
More than that, however, Smart described the Lakers’ offer — which was larger than Houston’s (Smart declined to specify the terms) — as “disrespectful.”
“First off, I played so well that the offer that was ultimately given didn’t match the way that I played,” Smart told Shankar, “especially when you see guys who played way worse than I did, the offers they’re getting. And then it wasn’t any security that we wanted that they were willing to do.”
Shankar also reported, “Smart always had a feeling that when he got deeper into his career, he’d try and come home.” A sentiment like that, plus Smart’s belief the contract presented was “disrespectful”, suggests Los Angeles’ offer would’ve had to be substantially higher to retain the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year.
Smart played very well for the Lakers last season and it’s absolutely possible they’ll regret not being able (or willing, at a certain cost) to re-sign him. They’ll hope that doesn’t prove true, with Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton likely expected to fill Smart’s void in 2026-27.
Each is a different type of player than Smart but Grimes will be relied upon to replace some of his perimeter defense while the hope is that Sexton can bring juice offensively as a reserve, just as Smart did with his passing/driving.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
