The Los Angeles Lakers have signed point guard Marcus Smart of Flower Mound, Texas according to Matthew Huff of The Sports Daily on Tuesday. The terms of the contract are two years and $11 million.
Smart is joining his fourth NBA franchise. He has previously played nine seasons with the Boston Celtics (the Lakers number one historical rival) from 2014 to 2023, two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2023 to 2025, and one season with the Washington Wizards.
The Los Angeles-based franchises have been very busy in NBA free agency this week. The Los Angeles Clippers have signed shooting guard Bradley Beal of St. Louis, Missouri and point guard Chris Paul of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In an interesting statistic from a business perspective, the Clippers also signed Beal to a two-year deal worth $11 million.
However as Beal has been known throughout his career for his offense, Smart has been known for his defense. While with the Celtics during the 2021-22 season, Smart was the defensive player of the year. The award was extremely rare for a guard.
The Lakers were looking for stronger defensive play after being eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In four of the five games in the series, the Lakers gave up 100 points or more. In addition to Smart, the Lakers have brought in center DeAndre Ayton of Nassau, Bahamas.
At this time in analyzing the Lakers depth chart, Smart right now is projected to be the backup point guard behind Luka Doncic, and the backup shooting guard behind Austin Reaves. Smart will get plenty of playing time as the Lakers’s no. 1 sixth man.
