Brad Stevens' first offseason as the Celtics' president of basketball operations has been all about creating and maintaining future financial flexibility, something he has been able to do while also, on paper, making the Celtics a better team than last year.
On the surface, signing Marcus Smart to a big extension would seemingly run counter to that whole plan. Yet it's apparently a move they're looking to make, with the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy reporting last week that the Celtics are willing to extend Smart for four years, likely for $77 million total.
Appearing on Gresh & Keefe Thursday, Audacy NBA Insider and former Celtics assistant general manager Ryan McDonough explained why signing Smart to that extension and makes sense, and why it's exactly what he would do.
"I would offer him a contract extension right now," McDonough said. "And that's four years, $77 million. That's the max extension the Celtics can give him, per the rules. I bring that up because there's a couple interesting factors there. That's basically the same contract that Evan Fournier just signed with the New York Knicks after the Celtics passed on that one.
"One important thing to keep in mind -- and this is where the NBA salary cap is complex -- if the Celtics just chose to let Marcus Smart walk a year from now in free agency without doing a sign-and-trade or anything, they're not going to be able to replace him with a comparable player. Their team salary next year with [Jayson[ Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown's salaries, [Al] Horford only has a partial guarantee, but it's a significant partial guarantee -- I bring it up because it's not like if they don't spend $17 million to extend Marcus Smart, they can go spend $17 million on somebody else. That is probably unlikely unless they completely gut the rest of their roster. So I would give him the extension.
"It seems like they have offered it to him. That's what Mark Murphy reported, or they at least want to offer it to him. That's actually a relatively easy one from a team perspective because, if you like the player, you can go to his agent and say, 'Look, we're giving you every penny we can. The rules dictate what we can give you in this situation. We can't give you any more than four years, $77 million. We want you. This is the best we can do today.' And you hope they take it."
McDonough also pointed out that even if the Celtics end up wanting to move on from Smart at some point, he should have enough value around the league to be an asset in a trade. In fact, Smart signed at that money could even help the Celtics match salaries in a potential trade for a star player to add to Tatum and Brown.
"If he takes it, that's a good deal for the team, in my opinion," McDonough said. "Whether he plays the next five years in a Celtics uniform or down the line if things don't work out, I think teams around the league will value Smart on a contract that locks him in through his prime and pays him less than $20 million a year."
