The Chicago Bulls are among the teams that are reportedly showing interest in Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart.
The Chicago Bulls found themselves in the latest free agency rumor mill. Earlier this week , Yahoo! Sports insider, John Schultz, tweeted they were one of four teams interested in restricted free agent, Marcus Smart.
Per NBA source, the #Mavericks are a contender for #Celtics’ RFA Marcus Smart, but it “depends on price.”
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) June 25, 2018
Other contenders, per source,
include the #Bulls, #Suns, #Pacers, #Mavericks and yes, Boston.
Smart, 24, averaged 10.2 points and a career-high 4.8 assists last season.
Now approaching his 5th season, Smart has made it known that he’s looking for a big payday this summer. He spoke with ESPN’s Jackie McMullen and said,
"“To be honest, I’m worth more than 12-14 million,” Smart told ESPN. “Just for the things I do on the court that don’t show up on the stat sheet. You don’t find guys like that. I always leave everything on the court, every game. Tell me how many other players can say that.”"
Marcus Smart is a solid NBA guard, though, if you’re a big stats guy you probably don’t think he’s anything to write about. He shot just 37% from the field last season and barely notched 30% from deep. But if you’ve watched Boston play, his impact doesn’t go unnoticed. He can defend the 1, 2 & 3 fairly well, and like he said, he impacts the game in ways that don’t always show up in the final box score. That alone is enough for me to be ok with him wanting more than the $6.1 million the Celtics can offer. And with how lucrative the league is becoming for players now, why shouldn’t Marcus Smart get his too?
But is he worth $12-14 million a year? And if he is, should the Bulls be the ones to give it to him?
Simply put, no and no.
Smart is good, but not THAT good.
Marcus Smart is one of those players that can go to any team and be a quality piece, but the Bulls should have no real desire in this acquiring him. Chicago has had an infatuation with undersized guards for a while now and I for one am sick of it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, and Aaron Brooks, those guys could score, Marcus Smart is an undersized guard that struggles on the offensive end, and that’s already a huge concern for the Bulls right now.
Next: Do the Chicago Bulls have a free agency dilemma on their hands?
This Bulls team should be focused on building through the draft and developing the young players we currently have. NBA free agency doesn’t officially begin until July 1 at 12:01, so everything is speculation at this point, but if they’re going to pick up anybody this offseason it needs to be somebody who can put the ball in the basket, everything else is pointless.