Marcus Smart Sends Strong Message to Celtics After Lakers Deal

New Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart committed the cardinal sporting sin of joining the sworn enemy of the Boston Celtics, the team where he spent the first nine seasons of his 11-year career.

The former Defensive Player of the Year knows that he likely infuriated many Celtics fans with his move, but he is ready to embrace the hate. When the Lakers visit the Celtics at the TD Garden in the 2025-26 season, Smart isn’t expecting a warm welcome.

“I can try to anticipate it,” Smart told Spectrum SportsNet. “I have no idea. But I can definitely tell and say that I’m expecting a lot of boos. I’m expecting a lot of hate. And that’s okay. I understand it.”

Smart spent nine seasons with the Celtics before being shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade in 2023. Injuries severely plagued his stint with the Grizzlies until he was traded to the Wizards at last year’s deadline.

Why Smart Chose the Lakers

Smart and the Wizards agreed to a buyout, which allowed the wily veteran to join a championship contender. The defensive ace reportedly considered offers from the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, besides the Lakers.

“The Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks all seriously pursued Smart, with positive conversations with personnel from all three teams after he and his agent Jason Glushon received permission to explore options from the Wizards, sources said,” wrote ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Smart ultimately chose the Lakers after being recruited by Luka Doncic. In his introductory news conference on July 22, he detailed the role Doncic played in bringing him to Los Angeles.

“There’s a lot of reasons [why I chose the Lakers], but the main one is being able to play with Luka and LeBron, two of the best to do it in this game, two greats with greatest basketball IQs that l’ve ever seen in this era,” Smart said.

Will Smart Come off the Bench?

“And when you get a guy like Luka calling, referencing, checking on you, trying to see where you at to see if you want to come and join something special that he’s trying to cook up over here. And for him to say that he can really use my help, that meant a lot.”

With Doncic and Austin Reaves already occupying the two backcourt starting spots, there is speculation that Smart may start the 2025-26 season off the bench. However, some analysts believe the Lakers must bring Reaves, a defensive weak link, off the bench, to ensure Smart can cover for Doncic’s defensive lapses.

The Athletic’s Jovan Buha feels it makes more sense for the Lakers to bring Rui Hachimura off the bench, fielding a three-guard starting rotation of Smart, Doncic and Reaves, to go with LeBron James and DeAndre Ayton in the front line.

“In my opinion, it’s clear that Rui is the guy that should go to the bench because I think people tend to look at positions too much through an offensive lens and not a defensive lens,” Buha said, via LakersDaily.