This story originally appeared in the Globe’s Sunday Basketball Notes. Read the rest here.
Regardless of how removed he is from his Celtics days, there will always be interest in Marcus Smart. He helped lead the Celtics back to prosperity in his nine years in Boston, but was traded as the Celtics added Kristaps Porzingis while reshaping their roster to win the 2024 championship.
In the three years since that controversial deal, Smart has been injury prone, traded again, and then spent a season with the rival Lakers. After turning in his most productive season since his Celtics days, Smart expected to return to LA on a new pact. But the two sides couldn’t come close to a deal, and Smart instead signed with the Rockets and former Celtics coach Ime Udoka.
In just his third game against his former team, Smart showed the full “Smart experience.” He drew multiple offensive fouls, missed a series of open 3-pointers, and then had another offensive foul drawn on Payton Pritchard reversed and flipped as a defensive foul. And then when it appeared to be another difficult night for Smart against his former team — he entered the matchup 1 for 18 shooting against the Celtics — he helped put the game away with back-to-back threes in a 109-93 victory.
“I’d probably say a different swagger,” Smart said when asked what he brings to the Rockets. “Just bringing my expertise, my [experience] to the team, and just trying to help in every way — and I think I’ve been doing that. Everybody’s been asking, what can they do? What do they see out there? I think that shows a lot.”
Smart hasn’t changed; he’s just aged. The first draft pick in Danny Ainge’s and Brad Stevens’s rebuilding program is now in Year 13, joining a young, athletic but also disappointing team to help push the Rockets to the next level.
So far it’s been a success. Houston is a stellar defensive team, and Smart is one of the veteran leaders.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “I thank God every day for the simple fact, we don’t see this often. It’s been 13 years. I did not think I’d be here, especially with the way I play. It’s physically demanding on the body and not a lot of guys are willing to put their body through it.
“For me, guarding the best every night, it does take a toll. So I wasn’t expecting to be here that long. I’m very ecstatic about it. I’m happy for the opportunity.”
Smart signed a two-year, $12.4 million deal with a player option for the second year, offering security and a prominent backcourt role.
“The (free agent) process was the process, and we all know about it, unfortunately,” he said. “But one door closes and another opens, and that’s how this was. To be able to come here, see some familiar faces, to be with Ime again, to come home to Texas closer to my family … it’s a unique way it panned out, but I’m here now and I’m going to make the best of it.”
Udoka said he was glad Smart was available as a free agent. The Rockets have dealt with backcourt issues in recent years, with Fred VanVleet missing all of last season with a torn ACL, and third overall pick Reed Shephard being slow to adapt to the NBA game. There was a definitive need for someone like Smart.
“He’s really addressed a lot of the needs we were lacking at times,” Udoka said. “Another ball-handler, point guard, experienced, cerebral guy. And the toughness that went out the door with Dillon [Brooks]. He brings that every night. With Fred coming off injury and not playing back-to-backs, it’s great to have him there, as well. It’s a seamless fit, as I knew it would be based on having him before.
“He’s happy to be playing some meaningful basketball games after Memphis and Washington, and he did some with the Lakers. His hunger and joy has never really left. So we welcomed him in, and it’s been great in the early season besides the injuries.”
Udoka is in his fourth season in Houston, and while the Rockets have reached the playoffs the last two years, they have been eliminated in the first round — including last season’s thumping by the shorthanded Lakers. He’s always been known as a direct, no-nonsense coach whose messages can sometimes be perceived as abrasive. Udoka had no issue calling out his players in the media, but the Rockets were in need of discipline when he arrived.
“We’ve got high-character guys that did a lot of losing before I got here, and understood what I brought and really embraced that,” he said. “Whether it’s me and Fred and Kevin now, we’ve got some grumpy guys at times and we’ll get on them. They’re very receptive to it and also have excelled in stepping their game up.
“So I [have to] be who I am and, young or old, it’s habits you’re trying to break and trying to instill. And I’m not going to give a little bit less because they’re young. They’ll get it and they’re probably great with it.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.