2018 NBA free agency grades: Celtics retaining Marcus Smart

The Boston Celtics maintained the core that got them to the conference finals by agreeing to bring back guard Marcus Smart on a fairly reasonable deal.

The Boston Celtics are bringing back the heart and soul of their team, agreeing to a four-year deal worth $52 million with Marcus Smart, per Yahoo! Sports‘ Shams Charania.

Over the last few of weeks, it appeared that Smart’s time in Boston was coming to an end, with a report by the Boston Herald‘s Mark Murphy saying that Marcus was “hurt and disgusted” by the silence the C’s exhibited once free agency began.

Lately, though, the two sides were able to ease the tension in order to get a deal done.

Per Shams:

"“After a contentious start to negotiations, Smart’s agent, Happy Walters, and the Celtics brass made significant progress in recent days to ensure Smart remained in Boston. Smart and Walters met with the Celtics’ front office and ownership on Thursday in Boston to finalize the agreement, league sources said.”"

Since entering the league as the sixth overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Smart has made a name for himself on the defensive end.

A burly 6’4″ and 220 pounds, he’s a physical defender who enjoys getting into the chest of opponents no matter the size, which allows him to create difficulties for even the most skilled of offensive talent.

He is the physical embodiment of grit and tenacity. It doesn’t matter who the matchup is, what the difference in size is, or anything else. Smart will do everything from fronting a seven-footer to taking a charge on LeBron James if it means preventing points.

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Most nights in TD Garden, fans will find the Oklahoma State product all over the court, diving for loose balls or vying for an offensive rebound amongst the trees. More often than not, it’s Smart who makes that one key play that swings the momentum of a crucial game. The man simply makes it happen on both ends of the court.

His scoring ability certainly isn’t great and at 29.3 percent from distance for his career, Smart isn’t much of a shooter either. However, when playing in Brad Stevens’ offense, such deficiencies rarely matter. The tactician is phenomenal at creating opportunities by keeping everyone moving and involved.

This has given Smart the opportunity to make plays with the ball in his hands, becoming an underrated facilitator in the process.

Despite what his stats might suggest, Marcus Smart is as valuable an asset as there is on the Celtics’ roster:

General manager Danny Ainge doesn’t like to dip into the luxury tax, but he did just that by bringing back No. 36, which says everything about his value to the Celtics.

Smart’s “do whatever it takes” mentality has been a key ingredient for Boston’s success since he entered the league, and it’s a large reason they ranked third in points allowed and first in defensive rating last season.

He may not have a natural position, nor can his value truly be measured in a box score, but it’d be foolish for the Celtics to let Smart walk for the sake of money because they’ve seen firsthand what he brings to the table.

Words like grit, determination and hustle get thrown around a lot when discussing athletes of any sports. They may apply to some, but not many more than Smart, and it’s hard to put a price on that.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Grade: A+