Marcus Smart Rumors

Dan Woike: January 30th - Marcus Smart and the Lakers have their emotional return to Washington to see the Wizards, per a person briefed on the matter with the authority to speak publicly but the common sense not to.

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Bronny James has been on a strong developmental path since he was selected No. 55 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft. While it was clear from early minutes in the NBA last season that he wasn’t quite ready, he made massive strides in the G League, and the difference between his Summer League showings in 2024 and 2025 proved that completely. Now, the Lakers have an intriguing decision ahead. Their guard rotation is relatively locked in with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent. But injuries happen, and getting through an 82-game season requires more than just four players at the guard position. That is why Lakers assistant Nate McMillan, who recently appeared on “The Sports Shop” with Reese and K-Mac, believes that Bronny might be in line to get real rotational minutes this season.

Lakers Nation

Dan Woike: Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber and JJ Redick are all here for Luka's pressure.

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Shams Charania: When they acquired him in that trade, they wanted him to be the face for the next decade. And already this off season, I'm told, he's recruited Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton to the Lakers and, most importantly, Jay, about the money as well. In that trade, he lost out on a super max contract with the Mavericks this off season, but in 2028 he's going to have a player option in that deal. He can opt out of the deal and sign a projected five-year, $417 million contract that would then allow him to recoup all the money that he lost in that super max that he missed out on this offseason. So Luka Doncic is committed to the Lakers. Three years, $165 million today. ”

Twitter

Marcus Smart on the first time he guarded Kobe Bryant: Honestly, I was shaking. I'm a rookie or second year, one of those here. All I'm thinking is my mom is watching me guarding Kobe. My brother's watching me guard Kobe right now. Like, I hope somebody got a picture of this. In my mind, I'm like, listen, just live in this moment because to be on the court with one of the all-time greats is an honor, let alone to be guarding him. So, to embody the Mamba Mentality: patience, stealth, and a stone cold killer; and now to be a Laker with that mentality, it just amplifies it.

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But the Lakers won’t rest after securing Doncic. They’ll immediately get to work on improving the roster around him. They’ve already taken steps to preserve long-term cap flexibility in search of his co-star. They probably have a better chance at getting another star this way, given their limited remaining trade assets. They have a clear path to 2026 cap space. They can create $30 million to sign a top free agent while re-signing Austin Reaves to a new contract. That projection includes Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart opting into their respective player options. However, there is no clear-cut star player available in 2026 free agency.

Third Apron

Multiple league sources confirmed those trade talks between the Heat and Wizards took place this summer. While a Rozier-for-Smart swap would have made sense for the Heat because Smart was on a cheaper expiring contract ($21.6 million salary for this upcoming season prior to agreeing to a buyout with the Wizards) than Rozier’s expiring deal ($26.6 million salary for this upcoming season), a league source indicated the Heat ultimately did not make the trade because of the draft capital it would have needed to attach to Rozier to faciliate such a deal.

Miami Herald

Anthony Chiang: The Heat's hesitation (on trading Terry Rozier for Marcus Smart) stemmed from needing to include draft capital to facilitate such a trade, according to a league source.

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So far, Smart seems confident in his health as he said his body is feeling close to the high 90s when it comes to a percentage. Having the veteran on the floor would be a massive boost for the Lakers given the lack of true shutdown defenders on the roster. President of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka spoke about adding Smart after the signing was made official and emphasized both the on and off court benefits of having him around.

Lakers Nation

“Adding a player like Marcus Smart to our roster allows us to compete at the highest level,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Marcus epitomizes what it means to prioritize winning above all else – whether that’s making huge plays on the defensive end or hitting critical shots in key moments of the most intense games. He knows and understands playoff winning and will be a key leadership voice in our group. Surrounding our stars with two-way players like Marcus is critical to our overall vision of how we want to play and win next season. This is an exciting player acquisition, for sure.”

Lakers Nation

Marcus Smart has already been in contact with head coach JJ Redick and revealed what his expectations for him were, via ESPN LA: “JJ just wants me to be me. The person that I was in Boston, the person that he played against and had me chasing around when he was on the court playing. So that’s all he asked me and I think I could do that to the best of my ability with the best of them because like I said I have a chip on my shoulder and I’m ready to go.”

Lakers Nation

Seven-year NBA veteran Shake Milton is in advanced talks with the EuroLeague club Partizan Belgrade, sources tell BasketNews. The 28-year-old guard is close to making the move to Europe after playing for six NBA teams: the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers. Milton was waived by the Lakers on July 20 — the same day his $3 million contract for the 2025–26 season was set to become fully guaranteed. The move was made to create cap space for the arrival of Marcus Smart. Telesport.rs were first to report the information about Milton being in advanced talks with Partizan.

BasketNews

Shams Charania: The Phoenix Suns have claimed former Lakers guard Jordan Goodwin off free agency waivers, sources tell ESPN. Goodwin, waived by the Lakers to create roster space for Marcus Smart, is a gritty, upside pickup for the Suns backcourt.

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Marcus Smart credited Doncic for recruiting him to Los Angeles at his introductory news conference with the Lakers on Tuesday. "When you get a guy like Luka calling... checking on you, trying to see where you're at, to see if you want to come join something special that he's trying to cook up over here," Smart said. "For him to say that he can really use my help, that meant a lot."

ESPN