AUGUST 21: The Celtics have officially signed Smart to his extension, the team announced today in a press release.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather play and no other fans I’d rather play in front of. I love Boston, and Boston loves me,” Smart said in a statement. “We’ve had some great moments and success in my time here, but there’s more to accomplish. I’m ready to put that Celtics jersey back on and get to work out on the Parquet with my teammates.”
AUGUST 16: Longtime Celtics guard Marcus Smart will sign a four-year, $77.1MM contract extension with the team that drafted him, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania adds that the deal will include a trade kicker.
Smart’s new contract is fully guaranteed through 2025/26. There is no player option, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who notes that the new agreement will begin during the 2022/23 season.
Originally selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft out of Oklahoma State, Smart first re-signed with Boston on a four-year, $52MM deal that will take him through the 2021/22 season. A two-time All-Defensive Team selection, the 27-year-old guard has proved to be a valuable addition during seven playoff-bound NBA seasons with the Celtics.
The 6’3″ Smart, working mostly as a starter, averaged 13.1 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.5 RPG and 0.5 BPG during the 2020/21 season. Beyond his raw numbers, Smart has shined as a wing and perimeter defender and operated as a vocal team leader.
Smart is earning $14,339,285 in 2021/22 and is eligible for a starting salary worth 120% of that amount on an in-season extension. The Celtics offered the maximum amount they could, so the new deal will start at $17,207,142 in ’22/23 and will feature 8% annual raises, for a total of $77,087,994.
The Celtics’ backcourt underwent two major transitions earlier during the 2021 offseason. Boston traded oft-injured former All-Star starting point guard Kemba Walker to the Thunder, then signed former starting Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder to a one-year, $5.89MM deal using the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
The guy ain’t that good. Declined as a defender. Never a good shooter.
Yeah this is another bad contract. Brad is in over his head. Decent player but certainly not worth $17m per season. Not much better than Bledsoe
smh. overpaid. I’ll eat my words if his decision making, shooting, and defense improves. Nearly $20/ yr a non all-star limited player who’s stayed the same or regressed. If C’s have to attach a 1st rounder to unload him later, I’m gonna laugh.
agreed.
And yet he would still be far easier to trade than Ben Simmons.
Agreed… they keep calling him a “leader” but what exactly has he led this team to? Absolutely nothing… should’ve traded him when his value was at its highest last summer. Imho, he’s a rotational player at best that shouldn’t be making any more than his $14m/season. It’s not a big raise but still every dollar counts against the cap
Well I think it’s safe to say teams have 100% confidence the caps going to steadily (healthily) increase for good starting next year –
Probably time for the fans to reconfigure their own internal numbers we worked so hard to build up in our heads-
Add ~2 mill per AAV as a loose estimate is probably safe
Summer of 16′ lives on
Embarrassing
You guys are all acting like 17M a year is a lot of money. This year it would make him the 74th highest-paid player in the NBA, by the time the contract ends he probably will be about the 200th highest-paid player in the league. link to espn.com I mean, if Ricky Rubio gets that much…
Guys making around 17M currently. Chris Lavert, Rubio, Jonathan Isaac, Joe Harris, Steve Adams, Markelle Fultz, Eric Bledsoe.
I mean…17M aint what it used to be.
I agree. Smart is a cultural leader. His voice was/is as prominent as Coach Steven’s and Steven’s knows it that’s why he is paying him.
I would still take smart over all those listed
The waves will indeed look different rolling into the shore soon. It’s going to take awhile to re-adjust for the community but that only seems natural-
Good point on 200th by end, it could certainty be close, Bizness is Boomin
It’s no more of an overpay than the Sixers giving Simmons 5-years/$177M.
You might have a point
Great news! Marcus Smart makes winning plays which don’t show up in the stats! But we’ll see. Team played supremely fast with Carsen Edwards and Payton Pritchard at the point in Summer League & it was refreshing!
Marcus walks the ball up so we’ll have to watch what develops & how our new coach, Coach Ime Udoka, plays it. Defense? Speed?
Gonna be very interesting!
Carsen Edwards.
Ugh.
Yep. I don’t want any more short Celtics and 5’11” Carsen Edwards certainly didn’t come out shooting well or scoring last year. But Summer League is making me into a somewhat & still skeptical believer. He’s built like a tank, plays extremely fast & gets us moving. Now if he can just shoot like he did in that March Madness game.
Hilarious and good luck with that
Edwards is next up to get cut after Parker
He’s pretty crafty defensively, and can shoot with some success. Yeah it’s an overpay but he has value.
I have to wonder. Have you ever seen him shoot?
Stats are available; just watching can be deceiving.
Smart’s 3pt% has declined though, even as all-around numbers have risen.
Watching, he always seems to get in collisions. It’s not like he avoids or regrets them… but surely he must wear down in time.
Good points about a slow pace.
His 4/$52 was called an overpay at the time (I was on HR then) but he was well worthy for it. The 4\$77 does seem overlarge.
Makes him a more valuable trade chip down the road.
Let’s hope so.
He’s crucial to the Celtics team and identity.
He can score some and play intense defense. He’s an underrated ball mover, just because he doesn’t have 8-10 assist doesn’t mean he’s not a good passer.
This is an underpay. He’s the heart and soul of the Celtics, great lockeroom guy, he defends all positions. At 6’3″ he guards quick point guards and isn’t afraid to bang in the paint with the bigs. His 5.7-2 turnover to assist ratio is near elite. Needs to work on his jumper but it’s a lot better than it use to be.
Sounds like Smart took the $$$ over winning a title. Can’t say I blame him. He still has time enough to play out this 4 year contract and sign on with a winner.
Wow. This one could be worse than the Lonzo contract.
He’s worth it to them. All that matters. Probably is a little high. He’s top 2way player in NBA. He’s big part of Celtics. So again, worth it to them. I’m actually very interested to see how he and Schroeder. Hold down the PG situation. If McDermott can get 16 mill. Then Cs can pay him 19 mill. They are playing with House money they saved on Schroeder.
Yep. He’s heart and soul of C’s. Max effort player. Needed to keep him.
Top 2way player. Wow your takes keep getting worse!
Yeah I doubt you know what that means. Explain it to this board. Show us ALL how much you know….
One of my favorite players in the NBA, but it is a bit more than I expected. Good for him. Hope he gets more opportunity this year, as I dont think Schroder should have any impact on his potential situation
Any dude how much you don’t know. Why would they sign him. To have no impact. You really should read more. Cause we all know you don’t watch Half the shot you talk. Have you ever had the NBA pkg. You claim to be a Heat fan. Yet you know Nothing about them.
Some if you are comics. If a player isn’t Curry or James they are worthless. Hate to tell you that Marcus is the soul of this team, he plays hurt, he drives the other guys. This was a great move fir the Celts.
Half the geniuses here only like to post. They don’t really care about facts. They make it up as they go along. I’d say half this board is here to Hate. Only real NBA fans. Even though we are not Celtics fans. We can appreciate a player like Smart.
If we can switch to a hard-nosed defensive team, when our shooters go cold, Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson & Denis Schroder can hold down the guard positions for us.
Smart had numerous games where he hit three threes in a row when we were behind. He also had days when he hit more. He improved his drives and mid range jumper game last year. He was instrumental in most of our wins.
Problem is he plays slow & Summer League showed what a team, Celtics, can do with a speeded up game.
The team new President Brad Stevens is building, along with former GM Danny Ainge’s drafts, is looking better by the day!
Yeah, as an outsider or rival, I like the moves Boston made. I think they have improved from last year. I could see them fighting for the 3-6 seed in an improved East. I could see them beating/losing to the top 8 in the East. It will be interesting to see how this new team gels…but TBH I wouldn’t want to face Boston in a 7 game series
I may be in the minority, but I think this was an excellent extension for both sides. Tremendous defender, gives 110% and plays the game the way you hoped all NBA players would. He does have awful shot selection and collects way too many T’s. But, I don’t think he’s the reason why the C’s haven’t acquired a bona-fide big man, which is clearly the reason they can’t progress past a certain point in the playoffs.
The answer is ” I love Boston, and Boston loves me,”
“What is something a black athlete would never say while playing in Boston?”
Can’t believe they left your post. Complete garbage.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE……………………………..
Celtics GET SMART……………………………………
Other NBA teams…
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH………………………
The last three seasons Smart has shot .364, .347, and .330 on three pointers and .511, .415, and .482 on two pointers.
In same three seasons Bradley Beal shot .351, .349, and .353 on threes and
.548, .515, and .535 on two’s.
The player that makes people feel comfortable vs the player that makes people feel UN-comfortable… and they shoot equally!
Smart could be a big help to Udoka tone-wise.