Isn't this the deal that Marcus and his agent turned down at the beginning of last year?
Basically...or probably, right? I mean, Smart recently said he was worth at least $12-14M/yr - I am not sure what he was asking for last year, but I guess we are all to assume it was more than that.
If he got exactly what the Cs offered last year, then I am a little disappointed in how the negotiations went down. It would be like a buyer (the Cs) offering to buy a house from a seller (Smart), but the seller turning down the offer because he thinks he can get more. Then, after a few months go by with no action on the property, the seller goes back to that buyer and says he will accept the offer. In any normal circumstance, the buyer would realize that the house isn't worth what he/she originally thought and decrease their offer to what the market really says the property is worth.
Last summer, Smart was showing off a new and improved 3-point shot, was in great shape, and we all thought this was the year. This summer, even being given ample opportunity with the Hayward injury, we see that Smart didn't improve his shooting and showed that he can still be a total butt-head (picture frame), but is still expecting (and amazingly getting) the same offer that came last off-season.
Like I said, I am happy to have Smart back and I will live with the (my) perceived overpay of about $2-3M/yr, but I certainly don't think we are all going to look back on this contract and realize what a bargain it was. Smart will just never have the opportunity as the 6th-7th man to prove himself like AB did as a 2nd-3rd option and at least similar All-NBA Defense.