Seeing Marcus Smart wearing the purple and gold (or, I guess it's technically yellow now) with the Los Angeles Lakers last season wasn't fun. He was a fan favorite for years with the Boston Celtics, and just seeing him in the jerseys of other teams (the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards) took some getting used to - let alone the Lakers.
But fortunately for Celtics fans, that's now in the past. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the former Defensive Player of the Year signed a two-year, $13 million contract with the Houston Rockets.
This move will reunite Smart with Ime Udoka, who was Boston's head coach during the 2021-22 season (which also may have been the best individual season of Smart's career).
He isn't the same player he was in Boston (especially his DPOY season), but Smart can still provide a ton of value on the court. And he should greatly help Houston compete for a championship next season.
Marcus Smart should be a great fit for the Rockets
The Texas native still provides the same hustle and energy that made him so beloved with the Celtics, and his defense was a big reason for the Lakers' late turnaround last season (they went 11-1 from Feb. 28 through Mar. 21, before Smart missed the next nine games due to an ankle injury).
Houston, especially under Udoka, prides itself on defense, and having someone like Smart can really elevate that area of its game.
Plus, adding Smart gives the Rockets some much-needed backcourt depth. After Fred VanVleet tore his ACL and missed all of last season, it was clear that Houston needed a better Plan B. They rocked with Amen Thompson as their full-time point guard, which didn't help their spacing (they ranked 28th in the regular with 31.5 3FG attempts per game) or playmaking, since he's not a natural point guard.
(Not going to lie, though, the thought of Smart and Thompson on the court at the same time is scary. They can complement each other incredibly well on the defensive side of the ball, and they might be a nightmare for opposing backcourts to go up against.)
VanVleet will be back in Houston next season after he opted in to his $25 million player option, but it was clear that the team still needed to bolster its backcourt depth.
And with the Smart signing, they did exactly that.
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