Coming off a season in which he revived his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Marcus Smart had a decision to make.
He was given a player option for the 2026-27 season worth $5.4 million that he needed to decide if he wanted to pick up or decline. And to no surprise, Smart will be declining it to become an unrestricted free agent, per NBA insider Chris Hayes:
Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart is declining his $5.4M player option to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell me. pic.twitter.com/4mffyS3zNG
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 29, 2026
Before coming to the Lakers, Smart had a pair of injury-riddled seasons. That led to him getting bought out by the Washington Wizards last offseason and landing with L.A. on a two-year contract with a player option for the second year.
The former NBA Defensive Player of the Year was looking to revive his value while playing winning basketball in order to hit the open market again, which is exactly what he did.
Smart was the heart and soul of the Lakers all season with his defense and hustle. The 32-year-old played in 62 games, starting 54 of them, and averaged 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 33.1% from 3-point range.
In the playoffs, Smart proved he can still compete on the biggest stage, helping the shorthanded Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in the first round before eventually falling to the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
His play in the postseason should give Smart quite the market in free agency as virtually every contender can use a player of his caliber and stature. The Lakers will surely be interested in retaining the guard and have the means to do so, but they could also choose to spend their cap space elsewhere if they feel the price tag gets too high.
According to recent reports, the Rockets are a team with potential interest in Smart now that he will be a free agent and could be preparing a three-year lucrative offer.
Marcus Smart hopes to keep playing with LeBron James
In addition to wanting to return to the Lakers, Smart also stated his desire to continue playing with LeBron James as the two built some incredible chemistry together in their first season as teammates.
“You never know, LeBron has been doing this for 23 years, I’ve been doing this for 12,” Smart said during his exit interview. “We’ve seen some things in this league. Some things we probably shouldn’t have seen, some things you probably wouldn’t have thought you’d seen. So I really don’t know. I hope so.
“The battles against him were fun. Being his teammate was fun. We all know the IQ that he brings to this game. So like Austin said, the confidence, he gave everybody in that room confidence. Especially when AR and Luka went down, we needed some guys to step up and the confidence just raised. That speaks volumes about who he is. Definitely hope, but we’ll see.”
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