Marcus Smart Signs $11M Deal with Los Angeles Lakers

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00:00Marcus Smart finds a new home.

00:02The veteran guard Marcus Smart,

00:04after being waived and clearing waivers

00:06from the Washington Wizards,

00:08signed a two-year, $11 million deal

00:11to head west to go play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

00:16It was actually time for the former 2022

00:19Defensive Player of the Year

00:21as he found the new home

00:22in which he was looking for playing time

00:25on a team that's a championship contender.

00:28There was thought that New York Knicks,

00:30who had room for one other vet minimum,

00:34was looking at Marcus Smart,

00:36but he looked at the roster in New York

00:38and there was not the playing time he desired,

00:42particularly the fact of having guys like Deuce McBride

00:44and obviously Jordan Clarkson in that second group.

00:49So why LA?

00:51And what does that mean for the Lakers?

00:53What, Marcus Smart's not a two-guard,

00:55and the point guard, back-up point guard,

00:58is going to be Gabe Vincent.

00:59So what does that mean about Marcus Smart?

01:03It's more about what they don't think

01:05about Dalton Connect.

01:07A Dalton Connect that had, at times,

01:09a big first half of the season,

01:12then was in the trade for Mark Williams

01:15that went south,

01:16and seemingly has not found his jump shot since.

01:21And this is a Dalton Connect that I was very high on

01:24coming out of the University of Tennessee

01:25as a shot maker.

01:28Now, Marcus Smart's a completely different player

01:31than Dalton Connect.

01:32I mean, let's be honest.

01:33Dalton Connect is a straight shooter.

01:35Marcus Smart is a straight shooter,

01:36but he's a better defender and leader.

01:39But it makes you wonder,

01:42with Dalton Connect

01:43and with Bronny James,

01:45the Lakers seem to be going all in

01:48and could be sacrificing minutes

01:50for players like Bronny James

01:52and Marcus Smart.

01:55Speaking of Summer League

01:57and Dalton Connect not playing well,

02:00who did play well is Flip.

02:03Kyle Filipowski was named MVP

02:05of the NBA 2K Summer League

02:09for the Utah Jazz

02:10after scoring 29.3 points,

02:137.7 rebounds,

02:15and 2.3 assists.

02:17Now, what's really amazing, folks,

02:19about when you look at the NBA Summer League

02:22is how guys progress

02:25from year one to year two.

02:27Right?

02:28It's almost like the game slows down.

02:30So Flip had himself,

02:32you know, a fantastic summer league.

02:34Gotta remember, Kyle Filipowski

02:35was a guy that fell in a 2024 draft.

02:38It could have been because of the thoughts

02:39of the relationship with his girlfriend,

02:41whatever.

02:42But now he's in Utah.

02:44So how does this benefit Flip?

02:46Well, it really doesn't.

02:48Why?

02:49They got rid of John Collins.

02:51I got you.

02:52They want to plug Ace Bailey at three.

02:54I got you.

02:55But there's another guy named

02:57Laurie Markkinen on the roster

02:59who is the best player for Utah.

03:03So now it becomes an interesting point

03:06where Flip kind of leads that second unit.

03:10You know, the second unit has Jackson Hayes.

03:12No, it's not.

03:12It's the Lakers.

03:13That has, like, Taylor Hendricks and others.

03:16So to me,

03:19you know,

03:20are we going to get a lot out of Flip this year?

03:23It's going to be really dependent

03:25on what Utah does.

03:28Watch Utah this year, folks.

03:30They're going to be bad.

03:32We'll talk about win totals

03:33next broadcast

03:35in the Western Conference.

03:38But you got to look at that team

03:40and look at still

03:41Walker Kessler

03:43and Laurie Markkinen.

03:46Do those guys get moved?

03:48Let's be honest.

03:49I don't care what Danny Ainge said

03:50about a rebuild.

03:51They're moving

03:52everyone.

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