NBA Notebook: Marcus Smart talks move to the Lakers in return to Boston

Marcus Smart walked around the sideline at TD Garden, taking photos with fans, holding court with old friends, staff members, and teammates. This marked his fourth return to Boston since the trade that altered his career and the course of Celtics history. The view from the sideline, since, became all too familiar. For the third time since his departure, he missed a game a Boston with an injury, this one a back ailment that's cost him six games, one of probably 100 he's dealt with throughout his basketball life. Despite that, each trip back feels special. 

"The emotions are the same every time," he said. "This was my home for nine years. I came in as a 19-year-old kid, and for nine years it was crazy. I got engaged while I was here. I grew up a lot. So the emotions are always gonna be the same here." 

Those returns also showed the range of his basketball experiences in his new homes between Memphis, Washington and now the LA Lakers, a stunning new reality for the nearly decade-long Celtic. A call from Luka Dončić and reminiscing over the fact that Smart and the Celtics faced a 16-year-old Dončić during a 2015 Madrid preseason game inspired Smart to join the Lakers over several other contenders following a summer buyout from Washington. He took a back seat with the Wizards into a mentorship role, sitting out late, begrudgingly, for the game between Washington and Boston last year as the team turned its attention toward the draft. The Grizzlies reversed course and traded him to the Wizards with draft capital attached. In LA, he found a team that wanted, prioritized, and got the best out of him early this season. 

Yet Friday's 126-105 Celtics rout over the Lakers showed the reality for the west contenders reliant on a 40-year-old LeBron James, who's struggled through his return from sciatica, Dončić carrying one of the largest usages in the league and Smart, who's appeared in only 14 of the Lakers' 23 games so far, and that's marked an improvement over his health at his last two stops. LA is reliant on a few players to shoulder enormous roles. Dončić missed the game for personal reasons as he attended the birth of his child. 

"We miss him," JJ Redick said about Smart on Friday. "(He) challenged the guys at the beginning of the fourth quarter that had to get every loose ball in that fourth quarter. I thought our defensive intensity and our ability to get stops and make multiple efforts, whether it was the chase down block, (Deandre Ayton's) stop at the end, Jake (LaRavia) diving on the floor for a loose ball. They tried to make those multiple efforts and executed them well. We're gonna be happy when Smart's back in the lineup, whenever that is." 

Smart expects to return on Wednesday against the Spurs for the Lakers' NBA Cup quarterfinal game. Through his first 14 Lakers appearances, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game on 40.8% shooting (25.4% 3PT). His impact came on the defensive end, where he drew stellar analytical marks for his defensive impact. Smart ranks in the 70th percentile, allowing 0.93 points per possession through his minutes, 0.75 PPP guarding the pick-and-roll (82nd percentile), and a staggering 0.39 PPP defending isolations. Those are over a limited sample size given his absences. Opponents have shot 46.2% from the field against Smart, the fourth-best mark among their regulars. 

After the game on Friday, Smart reunited with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White on the court, and he's been in touch with Jayson Tatum several times throughout his Achille rehab, who he's found in good spirits. The Celtics' 15-9 start didn't surprise Smart despite Tatum's absence and various offseason departures, due to how highly he still views the organization as he's gained more perspective traveling the league. 

"It's exactly what I assumed," Smart said. "When you got a foundation like the Celtics do, it's easy to buy in and they're doing their thing ... when you got that pedigree, you're not surprised when guys go down and other opportunities for guys come up and they're taking advantage of it." 

Two offseasons have passed since the trade from Boston blindsided Smart and frustrated him, given that the Celtics didn't provide a heads-up. He's mentioned that he didn't knock the deal, a good basketball move he would've made as well, but simply wished the organization had handled it differently at that time. More distance and space from the departure haven't changed his perspective much, he's still appreciative of the time he spent here, happy for what his former teammates accomplished in 2024 and grateful he gets the chance to play a 12th season in the NBA. 

The next opportunity for the two sides to meet comes on Feb. 22 in LA, and after this season, Smart will receive another opportunity to assess his future and test free agency, perhaps with more value from the spotlight, opportunity and productivity he's shown early in his Lakers tenure. Tatum said in a social media post that he wants to get Smart a ring one day of his own following his teammate's departure, and while that feels further than ever with Smart in purple-and-gold, the first real opportunity of it happening could come this summer. For now, he's focused on the opportunity in front of him in LA. 

"It was weird at first. Being here nine years, I definitely didn't think that'd be a possibility. But I'm enjoying it," Smart said. "We got a great team in LA, we got some talented players and we have a great opportunity, so playing with Luka and LeBron, two of the best to ever do this in this game, I'm just trying to learn from them and help in any way that I can, but I'm excited about it and I'm proud to be here." 

Here’s what else happened around the NBA this week…

Atlanta (14-11): Kristaps Porzingis returned from missing four more games with an illness he explained isn’t related to the one that derailed his final season with the Celtics. He moved to the bench and scored 25 points in 20 minutes on 9-for-13 shooting in the Hawks’ collapse to lose against the Nuggets after leading by 23 points late in the second quarter. Atlanta held him out of the following night’s game against the Wizards, where Jalen Johnson’s 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists powered the Hawks’ win over the Wizards. Porzingis has missed 12 of Atlanta’s 25 games since joining the team in a trade with the Celtics and Nets during the offseason. He’ll become a free agent this summer after he and the team failed to agree to a contract extension. 

“No, I wouldn’t say it’s the same thing,” Porzingis said after Friday’s game. “I just wasn’t feeling too good, honestly. Just not being healthy healthy, you know? But I wouldn’t say it’s the same stuff from last season, so that’s good … I think I kind of put that behind me even this summer playing for the national team, but anyway, just catching whatever it’s frustrating, you know? I want to be healthy. And I will be healthy.”

Boston (15-9): Scored a five-game winning streak by beating the Cavs, Knicks, Wizards, Lakers and Raptors. The Wizards and Lakers wins came by 45 points without Jaylen Brown, and 21 points when he returned from an illness the following night against LA without LeBron James and Luka Dončić. Brown neared a triple-double after scoring one on Sunday against Cleveland, and is now averaging 29.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 4.9 APG on 49.7% shooting (35.1% 3PT). He appeared on the NBA’s MVP ladder in 10th on Friday, achieving one of the best performances of his career against New York with 42 points on 16-for-24 shooting. Boston has now won 9-of-11 games started by Jordan Walsh, who shot 8-for-8 in Washington with a career high 22 points, finished 22-for-26 from the field through the win streak, averaging 15.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.3 BPG, hitting 6-of-9 from three. The Celtics moved into a tie for fourth in the east ahead of Sunday’s meeting with the No. 3 Raptors at 3:30 EST. 

Charlotte (7-16): LaMelo Ball suffered a new ankle injury as his maddening run of health issues continued to begin his career on Friday, along with challenges for the Hornets to keep their team on the court. Charlotte later announced an ankle bruise. Brandon Miller, who missed 13 games with a shoulder injury earlier this season, returned from back-to-back nights of managing the ailment with 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting. He’s shooting 38.6% from the field into his third NBA season. 

Cleveland (14-11): Fell below the Celtics with losses to Portland and Golden State that amounted to six over their last 10, the Warriors loss at home drawing boos from their fans. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland spoke out after the game about the increasing urgency needed to turn their early-season around and hope that their own and opposing three-point percentages will level out. The Cavs rank 11th in offense, ninth in defense, but 17th in shooting efficiency. 

“We get down, and then we start playing,” Mitchell said. “There’s no switch to flip. Until there's a change in that, we're going to keep being in these positions where sometimes we do, sometimes we don't, and we have to fix it. Until we decide on a consistent basis to be that group, we're going to run into inconsistency… yeah.”

Detroit (19-5): The Eastern Conference leader through the quarter point of the season is the Detroit Pistons, the worst team in the NBA only two seasons ago under Monty Williams. Since, JB Bickerstaff has overseen a 63-43 start to a new Pistons era that could progress to championship contention around Cade Cunningham as he grows further. Detroit has won 4-of-6 since losing its franchise record-tying win streak in Boston late last month. Cunningham led their latest win with 23 points and 12 assists on a back-to-back with Kevin Porter Jr. dropping 32 points on the other side. The Pistons return to Boston early next week. Few are better equipped to profile their rise than Vincent Goodwill.

Golden State (12-12): Scored a key win over the Cavs to move back to .500 late last week, but lost Draymond Green to a right foot injury at Philadelphia that left him in a walking boot leaving the arena. He missed Saturday’s win alongside Steph Curry and other Warriors veterans, but there’s reportedly optimism surrounding his outlook. Curry (thigh) could return on Friday if he continues progressing, Steve Kerr said last week. He has missed Golden State’s last four games. Al Horford (sciatica) told The Athletic that he’s disappointed with his performance since joining the Warriors. He returned on Thursday in Philadelphia and shot 1-for-8 with three points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss.

“I’m not where I want to be,” Horford said. “I would say I haven’t been very good. I understand that there’s a lot of work ahead of me, there’s more that I need to do, and I need to be better, and I feel like I will. But right now, I’m not where I want to be.”

Houston (15-6): Kevin Durant reached 31,000 career points against his former Suns team on Friday, becoming only the eighth player in NBA history to cross that threshold. He passed Shaquille O’Neal to move into that position, and could potentially move as high as fifth this season with Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) and Michael Jordan (32,292) next up in front of him. 

"It's incredible," Ime Udoka said. "I played against him his rookie year and a few times after that and remember him coming in and guys trying to guard the same way [they do] now, being physical with him, take him off the ball. He's learned to adapt, to adjust. To be able to do this with the longevity at this high level efficiency-wise as well, it's an incredible career [and] a long way to go."

"As you're coming up into the league, you look at these guys as heroes and you put them on pedestals, and you look at their accomplishments as sometimes unreachable," Durant said. "But then you get on that road trying to do your thing. That's how I've done since 2008. I've been focused on trying to be the best player I can be, and they set a standard for each player when they left the league. Guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe -- I'm missing so many guys. They just set a standard that I try to reach every day.

Clippers (6-18): The Clippers announced last week that they and future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul will part ways, the team sending the veteran home in the meantime after he signed a one-year, $3.6 million and later announced that he’d retire after this last season with the franchise he saw the most success with. That didn’t repeat to begin his 40-year-old season, appearing in only 16 games and averaging 2.9 PPG on 32.1% FG. Lawrence Frank said the team did not blame Paul for its bad start, 14th in the west as of Sunday. LA can’t trade Paul until Dec. 15, and if they buy him out, they can’t replace him until midway through January, and potential suitors like the Lakers and Suns can’t sign him until that same timeframe. Unless a clear need emerges elsewhere around the league, this could mark the end of his legendary career. 

Lakers (16-6): LeBron James’ 1,297 game streak of scoring double-figures going back to 2007 ended on Thursday when he reached eight points in the fourth quarter at Toronto and passed to Rui Hachimura for the game-winning Lakers basket rather than looking for his own shot. The moment cast a positive spin over a concerning start to the season for James, who sat out the following night at Boston with continued sciatica symptoms and arthritis in his left foot joint. The Celtics throttled the Lakers, 126-105, with James and Luka Dončić out, the latter attending his child’s birth in Slovenia. Marcus Smart (back) remained out in Boston and will miss a sixth straight game in Philadelphia on Sunday. 

Milwaukee (10-15): Giannis Antetokounmpo fell midway through the Bucks’ loss to the Wizards with a non-contact calf injury that resembled an Achilles tear. Antetokounmpo’s reaction and ability to walk off the court dissolved those concerns for the moment, but he’s still expected to miss roughly four weeks with what the team described as a right calf strain. Doc Rivers said Antetokounmpo remained in good spirits after the MRI result, while the nature of the injury requires caution, teams are increasingly concerned about the impact of a calf injury recovery on Achilles health. Prior to the ailment, Shams Charania reported that Antetokounmpo’s camp and the Bucks began conversations about his future with the franchise again following their disappointing start. Those talks will continue through the Feb. 5 trade deadline, with a resolution expected in the coming weeks. Rivers denied those conversations on Wednesday and said that Antetokounmpo loves Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo is eligible for a four-year, $275 million on Oct. 1 next fall. The Bucks had a team meeting that day, too, before their struggles mounted to eight over their last 10 games with defeats against Washington, Philadelphia and Detroit. Milwaukee hosts the Celtics on Thursday at 8 p.m. without Antetokounmpo, who turned 31 on Saturday. 

New Orleans (3-21): Zion Williamson and other Pelicans could reportedly become available leading up to the trade deadline following another horrible start to a season. Williamson (hip) suffered a Grade 2 strain and will reportedly miss at least the next three weeks after already sitting out 11 weeks earlier this year. The Athletic reported that New Orleans hasn’t discussed deals for Williamson, Trey Murphy III or Herb Jones yet, but didn’t rule out that changing before the deadline. The Pelicans exposed their first-round pick, alongside their rights to Milwaukee’s, with the Dejounte Murray and Derik Queen trades over the past two years, which Atlanta will receive the better of. 

New York (16-7): Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly desires New York above all other destinations following offseason discussions between the Bucks and Knicks that failed to amount to a trade. As Antetokounmpo assesses his future again, New York is a compelling situation for him to join, but the Knicks remain limited in the draft capital they can offer to pull it off. New York offloaded most of its future first round picks in the Mikal Bridges trade with Brooklyn, and acquiring Antetokounmpo would almost certainly involve maximizing a return elsewhere on Karl-Anthony Towns, Bridges and others on the roster. The Knicks, whether now or later, would need to ask themselves whether adding the star is worth the cost of roster depth and future assets that would be required to even enter the conversation, or risk that the Nets across town could beat them to him. Despite 35 points from Bridges and 29 from Towns, New York fell to the Celtics on Tuesday in Boston before winning three straight to remain in second in the East by 1.5 games over the Celtics. Towns said before the game he has interest in remaining with the Knicks long term through an extension. OG Anunoby (hamstring) returned for New York’s win over the Jazz on Friday after missing nine games, scoring 11 points in 20 minutes. 

Oklahoma City (22-1): Scary thought – the Thunder won their 15th straight game on Sunday in Utah by 30 points with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren scored 25 points each as Oklahoma City’s historic run to begin their repeat attempt continued. Only the 2016 Warriors, 1994 Rockets and 1970 Knicks have posted stronger starts to a season. Even the 1996 Bulls lost a second game by this point, reaching 23-2 before their third loss. Draymond Green looked back at what it took to break that Bulls team’s record with 73 wins of their own in 2016, saying it took time off his life. 

"Health, which they kind of plow right through health, it really don't matter, it seems," Green said. "You need a lot of breaks to go your way. But they're on the right track, and like I said, they're more than capable … I think 73 wins took some years off my life. It's hard. But, like I said, they're capable of a lot."

Orlando (14-10): Franz Wagner left the Magic’s 106-100 loss to the Knicks in New York after his left leg buckled. The team announced a lower leg injury and that he’ll be further evaluated in Orlando. Paolo Banchero (groin) returned to the Magic’s lineup in the previous game, a win over Miami, with nine points on 3-for-8 shooting before posting 16 in New York over 24 minutes. Wagner has averaged 22.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 3.7 APG on 49% shooting (36% 3PT), carrying the Magic’s offense alongside Desmond Bane through Banchero’s absence. In a bizarre moment, Bane rifled the ball off OG Anunoby during Sunday’s loss. 

Philadelphia (13-10): Joel Embiid’s (knee) shooting struggles continued in a loss to the Lakers as the Sixers ease him back into action, playing three games over Philadelphia’s last five and shooting 15-for-48 (31.3% FG) to fall to 40.7% from the field this season. Despite a 4-for-21 finish against LA, Embiid left the game feeling good about the shots he took. 

"I’m feeling pretty good," Embiid said. "I think, like I said, it’s all about getting in that rhythm and playing every other day. I think we’re getting there. The plan they have me on is playing and then two days off in between and playing again. It’s working pretty well. Hopefully, that keeps going and we can start doing it every other day, but I’m feeling pretty good."

San Antonio (15-7): Luke Kornet rotated inside and blocked Franz Wagner to secure a 114-112 win over the Magic last week, the rejection Kornet’s third of the game. Kornet (ankle) has struggled to stay on the floor to begin his first season with the Spurs, but has averaged 7.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 1.6 BPG on 66.1% shooting in those 14 appearances. He remained questionable entering Monday’s game in New Orleans. Victor Wembanyama (calf) and Stephon Castle (hip) practiced on Sunday before the team upgraded Castle to questionable for Monday’s game. Wembanyama has missed the last 10 Spurs games. 

Toronto (15-10): Fell behind by 23 points in the first half against the Celtics before coming back and taking a lead at the start of the fourth quarter, quickly squandering it for their fifth loss over their last six games. They’re now 3-5 in eight games without RJ Barrett (knee) and have fallen to the bottom of the NBA in offense over that span. The Raptors honored Chris Boucher in his first regular season return to Toronto, with Joe Mazzulla praising the veteran’s impact and handling of not playing in Boston to begin the year. 

Utah (8-15): Losers of 7-of-10 and two straight, Jazz head coach Will Hardy finally lost it on Sunday. 

Washington (3-19): Lost three games by double-digits, including by 45 points to the Celtics, after beginning December with a win over the Bucks. Benched Cam Whitmore and increasingly look stagnant in their development even while acknowledging their rebuilding status and youth. This remains about as ugly of a situation as any in the league.