Boston Celtics: Does Danny Ainge want to see Marcus Smart extension?

In scrolling through my Twitter timeline, I noticed a quote tweet from Barstool’s Dan Greenberg about the Boston Celtics getting a contract extension hammered out with 2022 free agent Marcus Smart.

It was particularly noteworthy to me because it was a tweet that entered my timeline because of a most unlikely source:

Former Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, who recently stepped down from his post to make way for the implementation of former head coach Brad Stevens as the new President of Basketball Operations.

Greenberg himself confirmed what my eyes were seeing:

I know many like to say that a retweet does not equal an endorsement on Twitter, but it’s hard not to see this as a case of Ainge endorsing his former draft pick getting the bag in contract talks this offseason.

And why wouldn’t he? Ainge’s hands have been washed clean of the Boston Celtics organization, so any moves Stevens makes has nothing to do with him. That said, Ainge and Smart likely have a good relationship considering the trigger was never pulled in shipping the heart and soul of the C’s defense out of Beantown.

Smart’s next contract could determine what Stevens does in building a contender around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown moving forward. If he gets extended this offseason, Stevens would be locking in his current core, but holding out could give him a better chance of seeing how Smart fits with the team following all of the offseason transactions Stevens has made so far.

If he doesn’t he could be included in trades at the deadline to either collect assets or find a better fit alongside the Jays or in sign-and-trades next offseason to accomplish the same goal.

Time will tell what Smart’s future holds, but Ainge seems to be in support of him signing an extension this summer.