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Marcus Smart and the Boston Celtics look to be nearing a deal that would refresh their partnership for at least one more year.
According to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, he recently crossed paths with both Smart and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and came away with the impression that both parties are going to resolve with finality any contractual issues sooner than later.
Just ran into Marcus Smart here after Celtics' game. Said he's heading to meet with his agent… He's been dealing with his mom's health situation, but added that he'd like to get his contract resolved. Brad Stevens walked by and said he'd be calling. Clearly C's want this done.
Smart has a qualifying offer from the Celtics worth $6.05 million on his table, though, he has not signed it yet. The burly point guard entered the offseason hoping he could find teams willing to pay him way over that range, but that has seemingly proven to be a more difficult task than expected, especially with several teams not having enough financial flexibility to make any significant signings.
In addition to that, teams are also wary that any offer they extend to Smart would only get matched by Boston, which certainly had plenty of success utilizing the former Oklahoma State Cowboys star.
Marcus Smart played 54 games last season for the Celtics, and while he only averaged 10.2 points on an ugly 36.7 percent shooting from the field, he was able to make up for his offensive shortcomings by being such a pest on the defensive end of the court. In fact, Celtics opponents are scoring 4.7 points fewer per 100 possessions when Smart was on the floor than when he’s riding the pine.
