The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring another top-tiered free agent, who became available via a buyout of his previous contract with his old team. They will be adding depth to their forward position alongside LeBron James and the team will receive much needed veteran experience as well. Small forward Marcus Smart will be signing a two-year, $11 million deal with the Lakers after agreeing to a buyout of his contract with the Washington Wizards and he will be taking his talents to the West Coast. Smart was actually encouraged by the newest face of the franchise in Los Angeles to come play on the same team as him. Thus, the Lakers will have another veteran player with a good reputation on both sides of the court playing on their team in the near future.

Smart had a great start to his career in being on a Boston Celtics team that rebuilt themselves into a constant playoff and championship contender under the leadership of Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge. Smart was on Celtics teams that failed to go deep into the playoffs and were denied chances to play in the NBA Finals by LeBron when he was playing his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After James signed with the Lakers in the 2018 offseason, Boston continued to struggle in making it to the Finals in suffering further playoff chokejobs. Smart was putting up good numbers in the regular season for his part as a side role player on teams that had stars such as Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. In his nine years wearing a Celtics jersey, Smart averaged 10.6 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. After going to one NBA Finals that resulted in a series loss and also having another chokejob in the Eastern Conference Finals, Smart moved onto a new team in free agency when he signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, who had good young stars such as Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Smart was limited with injury woes unfortunately and limited to 54 games over the past two seasons. Smart was traded in the middle of this past season to the Wizards, where he only played in limited action before having his season end with a right finger injury.

Now Smart goes from one of the toughest situations in all of sports playing for the lowly Wizards to being on a Lakers team hungry for success after acquiring Luka Doncic in a mid-season trade and falling short in the playoffs. In a stacked Western Conference, Smart’s addition will add much value to the Lakers, who lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency to the Houston Rockets. Smart could either be a starter or a bench player for the Lakers, who will have LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and DeAndre Ayton as sure-fire starters. Smart was recruited by Luka to come play in L.A and he gladly accepted, having a good combination of offensive stats and defensive prowess that is valued very highly in the NBA.

Smart’s acquisition came at a roster cost, however, as bench guards Shake Milton and Jordan Goodwin had to be waived to make room for Smart on the roster. Smart joins a forward room spearheaded by the King himself in LeBron James and also features veterans such as Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia. Smart can play as either a shooting guard or small forward for the most part and has plenty of experience facing off against some of the toughest teams in the association. Smart nearly won an NBA title with the Celtics, who achieved their 18th championship the year after he left. Smart is nowhere near the first player to play for both the Lakers and the Celtics, as he joins a very exclusive list featuring Rajon Rondo(who he was teammates with at the beginning of his career), Shaquille O’Neal, Don Nelson, Avery Bradley, Bob McAdoo, Gary Payton, Brian Shaw and Dennis Schröder. So, him being a Celtic(and one who played 9 seasons of his career for them) before becoming a Laker definitely might put some grief on him from the Purple & Gold fan base. But it just comes to show that a player on your greatest rival can someday become a member of your team. Smart is a fine player and his presence on the Lakers will hopefully bear good fruit for the organization in the upcoming season. Hopefully the Lakers made the wise choice in accepting Smart’s interest in joining the team, as he also had offers from other teams such as the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks that also have a need for depth at the forward position. This will force a lot of Laker fans to use their brains to change their judgment on Smart from a negative view to a more positive one. Marcus can return the favor with some outstanding play on the court for a team that is expected to win big, year in and year out.