Marcus Smart is not one bit bothered by trade rumors. In fact, the Boston Celtics guard sees it as a compliment when someone is mentioned in such talks.
While others see being in trade rumors as being unwanted by their current team, Smart thinks differently. After all, on the opposite end is a franchise ready to welcome them with open arms.
Speaking with CLNS Media recently, Smart talked about the Kevin Durant trade rumors that involved the Celtics. According to previous reports, the Beantown team offered Jaylen Brown and Derrick White along with a first round pick to get KD from the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets refused, with rumors claiming that they wanted Smart in the deal as well.
Smart noted that Brown handled the speculations really well before making it a point to emphasize that such trade talks are part of the business side of the NBA.
“(Brown’s) handled it great. He walks around with a smile on his face. We actually haven’t even mentioned it when we were together. We were just talking about the upcoming season and getting ourselves ready, but he’s great. He’s handling it as professionally as he can and my advice is, to anybody, don’t forget it’s a business first,” Smart shared.
“When you’re doing business, personal stuff has to go out the window and can’t be the issue, so you can’t look at it like that. If your name is up there in trade talks, I look at it as a compliment. It means teams want you. That’s a good thing. The problem is if your name is not (in rumors), nobody wants you. So that’s how I’m looking at it and that’s how people should look at it. It’s tough, I understand it, but just because it’s going on, you never know. Anything can happen.”
To be fair, a lot of people thought Jaylen Brown would ask out after seeing his name in the Kevin Durant trade talks. Many fans saw it as a huge disrespect, which could cause a crack in his relationship with the Celtics.
Perhaps Marcus Smart had some influence in him handling the situation? After all, he does have a good perspective on the scenario.
Whatever the case may be, Celtics fans will be happy to know that both Smart and Brown remain in a good place mentally despite the noisy offseason.
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