Marcus Smart will remain with the Boston Celtics after a summer in which he struggled to find suitors as an NBA restricted free agent.
The Celtics announced Thursday they have re-signed Smart, 24, a defensive specialist who sparked the team during its run to the Eastern Conference finals. The team did not disclose terms of the deal, but media reports pegged it as a four-year, $52 million contract.
The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 10.2 points last season to go along with a career-high 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 54 games, 11 of them starts. Smart missed the final 15 games of the regular season because of injury, before returning in the first round of the playoffs. He averaged 9.8 points, 5.3 assists and 1.73 steals in 15 postseason games.
The free-agency period was at times contentious as Smart wasn’t pleased with the lack of contact from the Celtics early in the process. The team made him a $6.1 million qualifying offer to make him a restrict free agent. Boston could have matched any deal he received from another team. There was reportedly interest from the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets, but no offer was made.
Celtics president Danny Ainge and Smart’s agent, Happy Walters, met Thursday to finalize the deal.
“Keeping Marcus in a Celtics uniform was a top priority, and we’re excited to have accomplished that,” Ainge said in a press release. “His intensity is unmatched, and the level of toughness that he brings to the team throughout the course of the entire season is second to none.”
Smart was selected sixth overall by Boston in the 2014 NBA draft. Over four years he has averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists.
“This is where I want to be, and I’m ready to put a green jersey back on and get to work,” Smart said in the press release. “I’m determined to help my teammates bring another championship to the best fans in the world.”
Ainge said immediately after the season that fears of a luxury tax bill wouldn’t factor into the team’s decision of whether to bring back players. But as the roster currently stands, Boston will be on the hook to be taxed next season.
Finances will continue to be an issue with Gordon Hayward signed to a four-year, $128 million deal, Kyrie Irving set to become a free agent after next season and several salary-friendly rookie contracts set to expire over the next few seasons.
“(Smart is) thrilled, really happy, because he loves it here in Boston,” Walters told the Boston Herald. “The contract is fair for him and the team.”
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