The NBA offseason is the season that keeps on giving as they reach the contract buyout stage of free agency. After the Grizzlies executed a buyout with Cole Anthony last week, a former player they traded at the February trade deadline was bought out by the team they had to attach a first-round pick to trade him to.
Marcus Smart's era with the Memphis Grizzlies was short-lived and a colossal failure after playing only 39 games in a little over a year with the team. The irony of his buyout from the Washington Wizards is that the Grizzlies traded him for the same reason they bought out Cole Anthony, which was to create cap space to renegotiate and extend Jaren Jackson Jr.
While Smart's buyout with the Wizards doesn't hurt the Grizzlies more than the short time they had with him, the team he intends to sign with will determine just how detrimental that experiment will be to the team.
Marcus Smart intends to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers
The Grizzlies and Lakers have developed a rivalry over the last couple of seasons after playing a first-round playoff series in 2023. A lot has changed between both franchises since that six-game series won by the Lakers, beginning with the acquisition and trading of Marcus Smart for the Memphis Grizzlies.
They executed the trade to bring him in to help them overcome the Lakers and other teams in future playoff matchups at the time. Instead, he will likely be playing for the Lakers in a future matchup. The Lakers acquired Luka Doncic last season for Anthony Davis and won their only matchup against the Grizzlies with him on March 29th.
Both teams lost their first-round series in short-lived fashion as the Grizzlies were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Lakers lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves. As both teams look to improve their rosters for the upcoming season, the Marcus Smart acquisition has the potential to continue making the Grizzlies look bad if he works out with the Lakers.
Regardless of the outcome of his tenure with the Grizzlies' rivals out west, Smart's era with the Grizzlies was a disaster, and they made a calculated decision to move on from him at the trade deadline. He now joins his former teammate in Memphis, who was also traded along with him at the deadline in the three-team deal, Jake LaRavia.