The Boston Celtics had a number of tough decisions to make this summer, and it looks like it will be déjà vu all over again next offseason.
The Celtics’ longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, will become a restricted free agent next summer after failing to reach a contract extension with the team by Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline. While this doesn’t necessarily mean Smart’s days in Boston are numbered, the guard’s agent believes it would have behooved the C’s to sign his client before the start of the 2017-18 season.
Agent Happy Walters confirms that Smart fails to reach deal on extension with Celtics. "It will cost them a lot more next year."
— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) October 16, 2017
Walters said Smart was not looking for a rookie max ala Embiid and Wiggins. "We were being very reasonable."
— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) October 16, 2017
Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins both signed five-year, $148 million extensions last week. Embiid’s deal came as somewhat of a surprise, as the center only has played in 33 NBA games since being selected No. 3 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 draft.
While there ultimately was no deal in place for Smart, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the two sides were making some headway leading up to the deadline.
Celtics and Marcus Smart were relatively close in talks at deadline, but he'll enter restricted free agency in July, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 16, 2017
This season will be a telling one for Smart. He’s expected to have an expanded role on this new-look Celtics team, which is littered with young players. The Celtics obviously would like to see the 23-year-old take his game to a new level, but that, in turn, will force them to open up their wallets a little wider if they want to keep Smart in green.
Thumbnail photo via Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
