Marcus Smart isn't going anywhere. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, the 6-foot-4 guard is returning to the Boston Celtics on a four-year, $52 million deal.
Restricted free agent Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $52M deal to return to the Boston Celtics, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2018
Smart averaged only 10.2 points per game with the Celtics last season, but Boston was a more dominant team when he was in the lineup. Whereas their offense improved only slightly, they were a whopping 3.6 points per 100 possessions better defensively with him on the floor. Not only did he lead the team in steals per game on that end of the court, Smart paved the way in deflections and charges drawn.
With Smart now under contract for four more years, the Celtics will enter next season with the same core that pushed LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, plus Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, both of whom are expected to return to the team at full strength for training camp after missing the playoffs with injuries.