The Boston Celtics have found a way to become the best team in the Eastern Conference despite not having Gordon Hayward and having to incorporate Kyrie Irving into a new situation.

One of the ways they have been able to do this is by getting good play from role players such as Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and others. But Smart recently made a mistake by slashing his hand after punching a picture frame in hotel room recently. He is currently out while that hand heals.

Smart has been important to the team, but some say he is available via trade. In fact, it looks like Boston could let him go if it gets a first-round pick for him, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, relayed by Celtics Wire.

“You talk about Marcus Smart, he’s a player that’s available for a first round pick. If a team was willing to give Boston a first, Boston would look at,” Woj said in the latest edition of his podcast with Bobby Marks. “If they didn’t have to take back a lot of money going out in the future. He’s restricted this summer, you don’t know what it will cost to keep him.”

The Celtics have already added to their roster by picking up Greg Monroe off waivers. The Celtics now have a lot of good players on their roster that, if the team is successful, will command big salaries to keep them.

Smart is one of those players that other teams will want to pay to acquire him. So maybe it makes sense that the Celtics salary dump him now rather than wait, especially if the team can get a good pick for him.

It's a difficult decision, but Danny Ainge has never been shy about making them. It'll be interesting to see what happens moving forward.