MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 19: Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics argues with referee David Guthrie #16 during the second quarter against the Miami Heat in Game Two of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals at FTX Arena on May 19, 2022 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
This summer, the Kevin Durant trade talks took a surprising turn when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a report around 2:00 am EST and shared that the Boston Celtics had reached out and offered a trade to the Brooklyn Nets that their All-Star Jaylen Brown headlined. Shams Charania from The Athletic added to the reporting that the Nets had denied that offer for Brown and countered with an offer that included the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award winner Marcus Smart. The Celtics of course, weren’t interested in the deal, including Smart and no deal got done.
Smart recently met with Bobby Manning of CLNS Media and discussed a few his thoughts about being included in trade rumors as well as how his All-Star teammate handled the rumors this summer as well.
Marcus Smart Sounds Off About Trade Rumors
Smart’s answer with his reaction to his name swirling in trade talks after his Celtics team made it to the NBA Finals last year was surprising; he took the rumors largely as a compliment.
“(Brown’s) handled it great. He walks around with a smile on his face. We actually haven’t even mentioned it when we were together. We were just talking about the upcoming season and getting ourselves ready, but he’s great. He’s handling it as professionally as he can and my advice is, to anybody, don’t forget it’s a business first. When you’re doing business, personal stuff has to go out the window and can’t be the issue, so you can’t look at it like that. If your name is up there in trade talks, I look at it as a compliment. It means teams want you. That’s a good thing. The problem is if your name is not (in rumors), nobody wants you. So that’s how I’m looking at it and that’s how people should look at it. It’s tough, I understand it, but just because it’s going on, you never know. Anything can happen.”
Smart reflects on Finals loss, lessons learned: “We have to take the lesson the hard way. We learned a lot out of our experience and unfortunately we had to lose to do that, but we now know what it takes.”
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Marcus Smart is a key part of that Celtics team, and his DPOY award was a significant thing that proved that. It’s easy to see why the Nets went after him in free agency, and he took that as a compliment moving forward in his play. The idea that another team wants you is seen as a compliment for Smart.
Jaylen Brown Trade Rumors
Smart also noted that Jaylen Brown handled the trade rumors well and it isn’t letting him distract him from what the Celtics are trying to do. In the hours after the surprising report from Wojnarowski, Brown shared a cryptic tweet saying “Smh,” implying that he was shaking his head at again being included in trade rumors. However, now the rumors have ended, and Brown seems to be taking things in stride moving forward.
However, Brown’s rumors to the Nets may come up again. Many analysts have started to predict that the trade rumors may prevent Brown from agreeing to things long-term to remain in Boston. Analysts are already predicting what will happen in the future for Brown. Some NBA Executives have even gone as far as to link him to other teams like the Miami Heat next season.