Plenty of Los Angeles Lakers fans were happy about the signing of guard Marcus Smart a few weeks ago. Smart is heading into his 12th season in the NBA and has long been one of the league’s best defenders. He has made the All-Defensive first team three times and was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season.
Some aren’t expecting much from Smart. He is 31 years of age, which isn’t old, even in the NBA, but he has had a number of mild and moderate injuries over time. There is also a perception that has game has significantly declined over the last two or three years and that he’s a shell of who he was just three years ago.
But former Lakers guard Patrick Beverley revealed on a recent episode of his “Pat Bev Podcast” that he’s bullish on the acquisition of Smart (h/t Lakers Daily).
“The sleeper of this whole pickup was Marcus Smart,” Beverley said. “Marcus Smart has something to prove. It’s different, right? You talk about Marcus Smart dealing with injury. Yeah, he got Defensive Player of the Year. Is he the same player? Is he gonna defend it like that?
“People don’t understand, after the trade deadline, this month and a half, Marcus Smart was playing some really good basketball with the [Washington] Wizards. People don’t understand that. And…he has motivation to get a new contract. He has motivation to get back to the Marcus Smart that people know he is. So, I think he’s gonna have a stunning year.”
Smart has appeared in a total of 54 games over the last two seasons and has been injury-prone at times throughout his career. He played on poor Memphis Grizzlies and Wizards teams recently, which may have sapped his motivation after years of being on Boston Celtics teams that reached the Eastern Conference finals five times.
In 15 games with Washington this past season, after Memphis traded him there, he averaged 9.3 points in 18.7 minutes a game while shooting 44% from the field and 39.2% from 3-point range. He is a career 32.4% shooter from beyond the arc.
As Beverley alluded to, Smart signed a two-year, $11 million contract with the Lakers that has a player option for the 2026-27 season. If he still has a number of high-level years of basketball left in him, he could earn himself a decent payday next summer.
In addition to his defensive ability, Smart is also a capable secondary ball handler and playmaker, and he’s an intelligent and resourceful player. He could very well make a major impact on the Lakers that cannot be measured by his basic stats.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Patrick Beverley: Marcus Smart will have ‘stunning year’ for Lakers
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
