It’s been an interesting offseason for the Boston Celtics. With Brad Stevens in his new role leading the front office, the Celtics didn’t make a massive splash, but they flipped Kemba Walker in a deal for Al Horford, acquired Josh Richardson and landed Dennis Schroder on a one-year bargain contract to bolster their backcourt. However, Boston wasn’t done as mid-August arrived, as word broke on Monday that veteran guard Marcus Smart will be sticking around on a four-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2025-26 season.
ESPN Sources: Boston Celtics G Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $77M extension. New deal starts in 2022-‘23 with no player option and secures him at $90M-plus through 2025-‘26.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 16, 2021
The four-year deal worth $77 million was the most that the Celtics could offer Smart as an extension. The defense-first guard will earn $14.3 million for the 2021-22 season and, with the option to offer him 120 percent of that salary with eight percent annual raises, the Celtics seemingly chose to do just that. As such, Smart will be staying in Boston, and he seemingly confirmed the deal seconds after it was reported.
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— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) August 16, 2021
While Smart is a sometimes inconsistent offensive player, he produced a career-best 13.3 points per game last season. Beyond that, Smart has stabilized as a perimeter shooter, knocking down a respectable 34.8 percent of his three-point attempts over the last three seasons, and he is a fearless creator. Still, his primary value comes with legitimately elite defense and, while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are the team’s offensive stars, this is a move that signals the value of Smart to the franchise as a key two-way piece.
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