Last summer, the Lakers’ acquisition of Marcus Smart wasn’t initially considered a home-run deal.
Sure, Luka Dončić pitched Smart coming to LA, and others on the team loved the move, but he was seen around the league as a player who couldn’t stay healthy.
However, the Lakers believed he’d bounce back and be a winning player again in their environment. They were right.
Now, that deal he signed with the Lakers seems like a bargain, and Smart might think so as well.
In a recent report on The Stein Line,
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer explained which team is likely to consider picking up Smart if he opts out of his deal.
The Rockets do, however, loom as a possible free agent destination for another one of Udoka’s former players in Boston: Marcus Smart.
League sources say that Smart, who is expected to draw interest from Houston and possibly other teams in free agency, is very much giving consideration to declining his $5.4 million player option for next season with the Lakers before Monday’s deadline to do so and then proceed to the open market.
This is a tough situation for the Lakers. Losing Smart to the Rockets, the team they eliminated from the playoffs, would be awful. From the Rockets’ perspective, they’d love Smart. They clearly lack dependable guard play, and Smart would enter right away and be one of their best backcourt players.
This move would make Houston better and LA worse, and replacing what Smart did at $5.1 million last year is next to impossible.
He played in 62 games for the Lakers last year. It was the most he’s played since the 2021-22 season when he was the Defensive Player of the Year. He also started in 51 games, making him one of the most important players on the roster.
It’s important to note that this report doesn’t say he will leave, just that he’s considering it. The Lakers reportedly want Smart back, and that could still happen whether he opts in or out.
Still, it’s not an ideal scenario for the Lakers, and they’ll have to see how it plays out. Hopefully, Smart stays one way or another. He was arguably LA’s third-best player last year, and losing him wouldn’t make the Lakers a better team.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
