Marcus Smart is BACK

Restricted free agent Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $52M deal to return to the Boston Celtics, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2018

Fina-fucking-lly.

I have been waiting all god damn Summer for this news. Marcus Smart is officially coming back to Boston on a shiny new 4-year, $52M deal.

To start, I love this deal for the Celtics. Just taking a look at some of the contracts that have been dished out this Summer (ex. Jabari Parker at 2-years, $40M), this is basically a steal for Boston. Honestly, Smart probably could have gone elsewhere for more money if his contract were up next year rather than this year. His market dried up within the first two days of free agency, which ultimately led to him not receiving even one official RFA offer sheet from another team.

Marcus Smart was the heart and soul of the Celtics last year, and if you don’t agree with me, you aren’t watching the games. Does he make some bonehead decisions here and there? Absolutely. But his value to this team is arguably irreplaceable. Nobody shows up every single day ready to work like he does. Bringing him back was extremely important if this team even has a slight chance at getting to the Finals and challenging Golden State.

Also, I have a feeling this spells the end for Terry Rozier’s time in Boston (unless Kyrie leaves for New York next Summer). With extensions coming up for Kyrie, Tatum, and Brown in the near future, holding on to another scorer seems sort of pointless. And with the numbers Terry Rozier put up last season, I can see a team paying out of the nose to land him. He’s a starting-caliber point guard in the NBA. Whether it’s at the trade deadline or letting him walk as a FA, I just can’t see Rozier coming back after this year.

-Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)