Boston Celtics: 3 potential future Marcus Smart free agent destinations

All good things must come to an end. For Boston Celtics fans, accepting the eventual departure of Marcus Smart will be a difficult one to process.

But it may be necessary.

Smart is no longer the background contributor he once was on a Cs team that championship ambitions. The last time Boston was on the brink of a title breakthrough in 2018, Smart was an energy and defense boost off the bench.

This season, he has been fully initiated to the starting five (when healthy) and the returns haven’t been as hoped. Last year, Smart was able to step in for the oft-injured Gordon Hayward admirably, but this year’s iteration of the Cs doesn’t have the same cohesion.

According to former Boston Celtics NBA Championship center Kendrick Perkins, Smart is partly to blame for the team’s descension in 2020-21 (original quote transcribed by NBC Sports):

"“I think something drastic needs to happen and it’s not firing Brad Stevens,” Perkins said Tuesday on Celtics Pregame Live. “I think that Marcus Smart has ran his course. I think guys are tired of hearing his voice in the locker room. I think guys are tired of his ill-advised shot taking at times, some of his turnovers that he has. “If Marcus Smart could be just a star in his role, and that means bringing that defensive intensity, diving on the floor for loose balls, those hustle plays on the other end, not trying to do so much. You can see it in people’s body language, when he tries to do too much it deflates the team. So I do think the Celtics need to look into moving Marcus Smart this summer, to be honest with you. I think it’s ran its course.”"

There’s a ton of dissension with the Cs, and if Danny Ainge lumps Smart into a group of guys that don’t deserve to be called the problem along with HC Brad Stevens and he’s still in uniform next season, he could still find a new deal elsewhere in the summer of 2022.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are already on max and near-max contracts, and Kemba Walker will still be on payroll as well. Depending on what happens with Evan Fournier’s and Robert Williams’ next contract negotiations, Ainge may not be willing to give show Smart the money in the 2022 offseason.

These 3 teams may be more than willing to however: