FA has almost completely dried up, only a couple teams have room to make a run at Smart, and yet no one has.
What does that tell you? Some Celtic fans value Smart a lot more than the rest of the league does.
While there’s always an exception, and sure some c’s fans do overate smart (the opposite is also true), this is more a reflection of the poor implementation of the cap increase by the league.
It should have been staggered, with a gradual increase each year.
Instead, many teams had unforecasted max cap space, and many unworthy players were given salaries far beyond their worth. There are multiple guards who got paid around the same level as smart is reported to be seeking (~15m) who have far less impact on games
Smart is absolutely worth 15m a year in my opinion, although it’s fair to question if it is the right move for the Celtics given the abundance of guard quality and depth.