Marcus Smart might not be coming back to Los Angeles. The veteran guard is considering declining his $5.4 million player option with the Lakers and testing free agency.
Amid this, the Houston Rockets have already positioned themselves as a legitimate suitor, per NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer.
Rockets Emerge as Frontrunners for Smart in Free Agency
At 32 years old, Smart just had one of the better postseason runs of his career, averaging 12.9 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.4 steals across 10 playoff games, and someone is going to pay him for it. Whether that’s the Lakers or someone else is the question now.
The interest from Houston isn’t subtle. Stein and Fischer reported that the Rockets have placed themselves among the frontrunners if Smart enters the open market.
“The Rockets do, however, loom as a possible free agent destination for another one of Udoka’s former players in Boston: Marcus Smart,” they wrote in The Stein Line.
Further, they noted, “League sources say that Smart, who is expected to draw interest from Houston and possibly other teams in free agency, is very much giving consideration to declining his $5.4 million player option for next season with the Lakers before Monday’s deadline to do so and then proceed to the open market.”
The tie to Houston goes beyond familiarity. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka coached Smart during the 2021-22 season in Boston, when the veteran guard won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first guard to claim that honor since Gary Payton in 1996.
That same team reached the NBA Finals together.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Smart enjoyed his time in Los Angeles but wants a new deal that pays him more than his current $5.4 million option.
Houston can offer that. They can also offer a reunion with the coach under whom he had the best season of his career, and that’s a real selling point.
Smart’s regular-season numbers were solid: 9.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 28.5 minutes across 62 games.
The postseason numbers hit differently. Across 10 playoff games, Smart averaged 12.9 points, 5.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.4 steals, and 1.0 blocks.
His best series came against Houston. Smart averaged 14.7 points, 5.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks in that first-round matchup, shooting 44.8% from three.
He’s one of the reasons the Rockets went home in six games. Now they’re trying to bring him to Houston.
The roster need is legitimate. Fred VanVleet is coming back from a torn ACL, and betting on him to hold down the veteran guard role isn’t a sure thing.
Houston lost VanVleet before the season even started, lost Steven Adams to an ankle injury in January, and started one of the youngest playoff lineups in league history.
Experience at guard under pressure has been Houston’s blind spot. Smart closes that gap.
