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Former Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has attracted a market despite an injury-riddled season. So much so that two Celtics rivals have asked about him.
However, according to Yahoo Sports senior reporter Jake Fischer, Smart’s not going anywhere.
“While several clubs — including the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, sources said — have phoned Memphis about obtaining defensive stalwart Marcus Smart, the Grizzlies have shut down any overtures for the veteran guard, sources said.”
The Grizzlies gave up two first-round picks to acquire Smart from the Celtics in 2023. Even if the season has not gone as planned for them, they won’t give up Smart so easily after the bad luck they’ve had.
Smart’s season has been plagued with injuries. Ankle and finger injuries have limited him to 20 games this season. He’s not the only Grizzlies player who has had misfortune this season. Steven Adams had season-ending surgery before it even began, and Ja Morant suffered a torn labrum shortly after serving a 25-game suspension, ending his season.
Even so, Smart has two years left on his contract. Smart is averaging a career-high 14.2 points per game while shooting a career-high 43% from the field. Even if things haven’t worked out overall, they clearly have not lost faith in how Smart could help them win.
Trail Blazers May Not Trade Malcolm Brogdon: Report
Marcus Smart may not be the only former Celtic who will stay put past the NBA Trade Deadline. In Fischer’s same report, he added that Malcolm Brogdon may stay with the Portland Trail Blazers.
“Rival personnel have also been expressing an increasing skepticism that the Blazers will part with veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon.”
Unlike the Grizzlies, the Trail Blazers entered the 2023-24 season as a rebuilding team. After they traded Damian Lillard, then Jrue Holiday, they signaled that they were starting a new chapter. As of February 2, the Trail Blazers are 15-33, which puts them at No. 14 in the Western Conference.
Brogdon told The Athletic’s Jason Quick that he has no interest in getting traded again, stressing that he’s happy in Portland.
“I’m happy here. I’m valued here. Valued in this leadership/lead-guard role,’’ Brogdon told Quick in a January 30 story. “And I can’t complain with that. I’m happy in Portland.’’
Unless Brogdon does something along the same lines of Lillard during the 2023 offseason, it sounds like a trade won’t happen.
Gordon Hayward Might Get Traded: Report
Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon might stay where they are, but other former Celtics may find new homes.
In Fischer’s report, he mentioned that the Hornets have looked into what they could get for Gordon Hayward.
“Charlotte still considers Lowry a possible re-trade candidate, sources said, while the Hornets are also evaluating trade options for Gordon Hayward, sources said.”
Hayward is in the last year of a four-year, $120 million contract he signed with the Hornets in 2020. The Hornets are 10-36 and have already traded ex-Celtic Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat. The Hornets owe Hayward $31.5 million, which could make him tough to trade away.
Hayward is not only expensive, but he’s injury-prone. He’s played 168 games total since going to Charlotte. That’s just a few games more than two full NBA seasons in a three-and-a-half-year span, give or take.
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