Just when you think the Los Angeles Lakers are fully backed into a corner… they find a way to add talented players. Twice now the Lakers have taken advantage of the buyout market this offseason; first, it was DeAndre Ayton after a contract buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Now, most recently, it’s former DPOY Marcus Smart after the Washington Wizards buy him out. Smart heads to the Lakers on a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option in year two, according to Shams Charania.
“Marcus Smart the Los Angeles Laker” will be painful to plenty of folks in the Northeast for a few years, but this is a pretty great situation for Smart to end up in. He’ll get plenty of minutes and potentially provide the guard defense that Los Angeles lacks elsewhere in the lineup. Here’s how things could shake out to start the year.
Projected Lakers rotation after signing Marcus Smart
| Position | Starter | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| Point guard | Luka Dončić | Gabe Vincent |
| Shooting guard | Austin Reaves | Jake LaRavia |
| Small forward | Marcus Smart | Rui Hachimura |
| Power forward | LeBron James | Jarred Vanderbilt |
| Center | DeAndre Ayton | Jaxson Hayes |
I’m not sure if Smart will actually crack the starting lineup right off the bat, but the more I think about it, the more I think he should. Moving Rui to a sixth man role while adding some defensive upside with Smart in the starting five gives this team an extra dimension.
Suddenly, the defensive deficiencies that comes with a starting five including Luka, Rui and Austin Reaves are wiped away.
Smart isn’t quite the shooter that Hachimura is, but we’ve seen him be at least a capable catch-and-shoot guy in Boston, and that’s really all he’ll need to do on offense between three primary ball-handlers.
Marcus Smart looks to revive career with Lakers
Since he was traded from the Celtics, Marcus Smart hasn’t quite found his footing. He was barely part of the rotation in Memphis, then was pretty much salary filler in a deal to the Wizards so they could add draft capital.
Personally, I liked the idea of Smart, Khris Middleton and CJ McCollum all playing in Washington with the young guys, but this is almost objectively a better situation for the three-time first-team All Defense selection.
His name has lost a bit of the luster it had when he was a key piece in some great Celtics teams, but I think this is a pretty stellar move from the Lakers front office, who do play on easy mode, to be fair.
