Los Angeles Lakers Urged To Trade For Former Celtics Star

The Los Angeles Lakers have mostly stood pat this NBA offseason, which seems kind of unforgivable given how much they clearly needed to improve after getting knocked out of the first round of the playoffs this past spring.

Fortunately, there is still time for the Lakers to make some improvements, even if they have to make them during the season.

Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus has created a list of potential trade targets for Los Angeles, and qualifying was Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart.

Of course, Smart is most known for his extensive tenure with the Boston Celtics, which ran between 2014 and 2023.

While Smart may not be quite as dominant as he once was on the defensive end, he remains one of the top perimeter defenders in the NBA when healthy.

Pincus notes that Smart isn’t currently available but could ultimately hit the trade block if the Grizzlies slump through the first few months of the regular season.

Smart has two years and $42 million remaining on his deal, which is great value for what he brings to the table.

Marcus Smart’s injury history is a bit concerning for Los Angeles Lakers

The primary drawback to Smart at this stage is his fairly checkered injury history.

He played in just 20 games during his debut campaign in Memphis last season, and the preceding campaign, he appeared in 61 contests with the Celtics.

Considering that the Lakers are an aging, rather injury-prone team as is, the last thing they need is another guy who can’t stay on the floor.

Smart is 30 years old, so he isn’t exactly ancient, but he has accumulated a lot of nicks and bruises over the course of his career and is not all that durable at this stage.

During his time on the floor last year, Smart averaged 14.5 points, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals over 30.3 minutes per game on 43.0/31.3/76.8 shooting splits.

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