After a fairly quiet summer, the Lakers have made a big splash by reportedly agreeing to a contract with Marcus Smart following a buyout with the Wizards.
The Lakers’ search for a point of attack defender took them to a perhaps unexpected place.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers will reportedly sign Marcus Smart to a two-year, $11 million deal following a contract buyout with the Wizards. Smart was set to earn $21.5 million this season.
Notably, Charania also reports that Luka Dončić helped recruit Smart.
Smart, a three-time All-Defense first team guard, will have a player option on his new Lakers deal to enter a more flush 2026 free agency, sources said. Point of attack defender was a position of need for L.A. as well — with Luka Doncic recruiting and reaching out to Smart. https://t.co/POZfSea5sU
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2025
As noted by Charania, Smart won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022 and has long had a reputation for being a solid defender. He has three other top-ten finishes in Defensive Player of the Year and three First Team All-Defense honors.
However, his career has trended downward rather sharply in recent seasons. After being traded from Boston in 2023, Smart has struggled with injuries and a drop in production.
He has played in just 54 games over the last two years and has never been a particularly durable player in his career with a checkered injury history. In six of his 11 seasons, he’s played 60 games or fewer.
Between Memphis and Washington the last two seasons, he’s also struggled statistically. He averaged 11.6 points in 39 games with the Grizzlies, shooting 40.3% from the field and 31.7% from the 3-point line. His efficiency jumped in Washington, but it was only a 15-game sample size last season.
In LA, Smart will be looked upon as a defender that the Lakers sorely needed. Smart can be either a point of attack defender or a wing defender, having excelled in both areas. To that point, he also would do well in a switching scheme defensively, which head coach JJ Redick deployed often last season.
The Lakers will need to execute additional moves to make this deal happen. Right now, they are just below the first apron, which is a hard cap for them this season after using the mid-level exception.
Waiving Shake Milton, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, helps open up some money, but not enough. The simplest path is to also waive Jordan Goodwin, who also has a non-guaranteed contract.
Goodwin, though, was a solid piece of the rotation last season even into the playoffs, so waiving his small cap hit would be a tough blow.
Lakers can sign Marcus Smart to two years, $11 million with the full bi-annual exception.
They’ll need to clear about $4.2 million to gain access to the full amount while staying below the first apron.
Shake Milton and Jordan Goodwin are on non-guaranteed contracts. https://t.co/ryuO9VBy8K
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) July 19, 2025
With Smart set to be on waivers for 48 hours, there is some time to make a move for the Lakers. While Milton’s contract becomes guaranteed on Sunday, that deadline does not exist for Goodwin.
The other, more complicated route, would be to agree to a deal that sheds salary. The Lakers have the expiring contracts to make that work, but may have to take on more long-term money as well.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.