Report: Smart Signs 4 year, $77 million extension

[tonydelk]

Smart signed his 4 yr extension

Marcus Smart To Sign Four-Year Extension With Celtics
August 16th, 2021 at 7:03pm CST • By Alex Kirschenbaum
Celtics guard Marcus Smart will sign a four-year, $77.1MM maximum contract extension of his current deal with the team who drafted him, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The deal, which includes a trade kicker, is full guaranteed through 2025/26, Charania adds. The new agreement will begin during the 2022/23 season, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

[Roy H.]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now. 

[hpantazo]

Great news! Smart should be a Celtic for life.

[colincb]

WOJ:

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $77 million contract extension, sources told ESPN.

The extension -- which begins with the 2022-2023 season -- is the maximum allowable off Smart's $14.3 million salary for 2021-2022. The deal does not include a player option.

Smart has developed into one of the franchise's most important players, an elite defender and competitor who has twice been voted to NBA All-Defensive first teams.

Smart has played his entire seven-year career with the Celtics, who drafted him sixth overall in 2014.

Smart, 27, averaged career highs in points (13.1), assists (5.7), blocks (0.5) and minutes (32.9) for the Celtics last season.

[Csfan1984]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now.

If they were going to do this they should have also kept Fournier.

[hpantazo]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now.

If they were going to do this they should have also kept Fournier.

Many people on here were saying the Celtics were going to have to choose between Smart and Fournier. Well it looks like they made a clear choice.

[hpantazo]

Is anyone surprised that Brad Stevens gave Smart the most money he could possibly give him in an extension? Stevens has always been a huge Smart supporter.

[jpotter33]

Glad to have my favorite player locked up long-term.

That said, he becomes much more movable as a contract now. I’m kind of expecting a Beal trade by the deadline at this point.

[nebist]

Love it. Key piece locked up long-term. In addition to being my favorite player, I think this deal will be good business for the Celtics although I’m sure some will complain about the #s. Max cap space was always a dream. A 3rd star was always going to be attained via trade. That is still possible.

Meanwhile, I think we will see a better Smart with long-term security. His issues have always stemmed from wanting to win to the point where sometimes he forces. Long-term security will help mitigate that. I also believe he will continue to get better in the 2nd half of his career, similar to a Kyle Lowry or a Jason Kidd improving his shot. His game is not reliant on speed, but strength and craft. His playmaking skills are there but have never been featured until now. The shooting is obviously the swing factor to him getting to a Lowry level, but even so this is Joe Harris/Duncan Robinson $. This is the going rate for a high level 4th starter/unique high end role player.

[Neurotic Guy]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now.

If they were going to do this they should have also kept Fournier.

Many people on here were saying the Celtics were going to have to choose between Smart and Fournier. Well it looks like they made a clear choice.

Between the 2, I think that was a good choice.   

[Jiri Welsch]

Smart and Lowry have eerily similar numbers for the first 7 years of their careers. I am happy with locking him up at that number. He's also still tradeable despite the trade kicker. Go Celtics.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&player_id1=smartma01&player_id2=lowryky01&p2yrfrom=2007&p2yrto=2013

[hpantazo]

Dunn is the odd man out here now. With Smart, Schroeder and Pritchard I see no role for Dunn on this team.

[hpantazo]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now.

If they were going to do this they should have also kept Fournier.

Many people on here were saying the Celtics were going to have to choose between Smart and Fournier. Well it looks like they made a clear choice.

Between the 2, I think that was a good choice.

So do I. Easy choice imo.

[#1P4P]

Evan Fournier money, with an extra year.  Does that make it an "unmovable" contract?

We're out of the max space game now.

Orlando traded Evan Fournier to Boston for 2 mid-late 2nd round picks. Meanwhile:

Boston shopped Smart last season, seeking multiple first round picks, a team executive with knowledge of the discussions told SI. Smart’s value now? “Probably a first round pick and a rotational player,” a high ranking Eastern Conference executive told SI. “Might be able to swap him for similar player that fits a positional need.” via Justin Leger @ NBC Sports

Mannix mentions the Trail Blazers, who could make some significant changes of their own this summer, as a potential destination for Smart. “If Portland keeps Lillard — that’s why [CJ] McCollum is intriguing for Boston, because Smart would probably complement Lillard differently at least than McCollum does,” Mannix said. “The biggest problem in Portland is there’s no defensive backstop there. There’s nobody that can guard wings the way Smart can. So you put Smart next to Lillard, you take a lot of pressure off him in that sense. There’s a really good market for Marcus Smart.”

Add to that the Smart for the #2 from GSW via Timberwolves and that should explain the discrepancy between your market value of Marcus Smart and Evan Fournier, and Marcus’ market value in the league.

[Ogaju]

Better deal….$68 million was an insult.