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Dave McMenamin
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Tally an assist for Luka Doncic months before opening night.
Marcus Smart credited Doncic for recruiting him to Los Angeles at his introductory news conference with the Lakers on Tuesday.
“When you get a guy like Luka calling… checking on you, trying to see where you’re at, to see if you want to come join something special that he’s trying to cook up over here,” Smart said. “For him to say that he can really use my help, that meant a lot.”
Smart, who cleared waivers after reaching a buyout agreement with the Washington Wizards, signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Lakers, sources previously told ESPN. L.A. waived guards Shake Milton and Jordan Goodwin to have access to the biannual exception to sign Smart, 31, for more than the veteran’s minimum, sources said.
The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Defense first-team member will be tasked with providing the Lakers with a point-of-attack defender on the perimeter after Dorian Finney-Smith signed with the Houston Rockets in free agency. And with 108 career playoff games under his belt — tied with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley for the 18th most among active players — his experience will be welcome with a relatively new Lakers group that traded for Doncic in February and is coached by JJ Redick, entering his second season on the sideline. With LeBron James, No. 1 in all-time postseason games in the mix, of course.
“Just to be me,” Smart said when asked what his role will be on the team. “Come in and do what I do and that’s [being] a tenacious defender, just bringing the intensity that I bring, my leadership, my basketball IQ, as well. But just being the pest that I’ve always been.”
The fact that Doncic was so vigilant in his pursuit of Smart is certainly a good sign for how he views his long-term allegiance to the franchise. Doncic has two years left on his contract with L.A., including a player option for 2026-27. However, the Lakers will be able to offer the 26-year-old superstar a four-year, $222 million extension as of Aug. 2, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Smart is one of four new faces to join the team this offseason, along with center Deandre Ayton and forward Jake LaRavia, both free agent signings, and second-round draft pick Adou Thiero. L.A. won 50 games and earned the No. 3 seed in the crowded Western Conference last season before being ousted by the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs in five games.
Smart said that L.A. is equipped to hold its own in the West, which figures to be just as competitive in 2025-26 with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and revamped Denver Nuggets and Rockets rosters providing formidable challenges — just to name a few teams.
“I think we stack right up there with the best of them,” Smart said. “And I think we can [compete]. Our ceiling is high. I think there’s no ceiling. I think if we all lock in and come and do what we’re supposed to do, we can have a real good shot at it.”
After spending the first nine years of his career with the Boston Celtics, the franchise that drafted him No. 6 in 2014 (when L.A. worked him out before the draft and selected Julius Randle at No. 7), Smart played just 54 games over the past two seasons with Washington and the Memphis Grizzlies because of injuries.
“I’m very motivated,” Smart said. “The last two years for me was, in my eyes, a disappointment. Injuries kind of stopped me and held me back. But, like I told my wife and my family, everything happens for a reason. And it’s funny that 12 years ago, I could have been here and now it’s full circle and I’m here.”