Lakers Rumors: Marcus Smart Among Names to Watch Ahead of Trade Deadline

Los Angeles has been connected with the former Defensive Player of the Year.

Jan 5, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart (36) defends Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

After an encouraging start to their 2024-25 season that included three- and six-game win streaks under new head coach J.J. Redick, the Los Angeles Lakers have been slumping mightily of late. The club has gone 1-4 across its last five contests and has fallen to a good-not-great 11-8 record on the year, thanks to defeats against playoff squads like the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder.

L.A. has been relatively healthy, aside from its center depth behind All-NBA superstar Anthony Davis. Normal Davis back-ups Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes have already missed significant time, and Hayes is set to be out for several more weeks with a lingering ankle ailment.

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The clear issue for Los Angeles of late has been defensive help along the perimeter. Gabe Vincent is the Lakers' only healthy plus-defender along the wing. Reserve forward Jarred Vanderbilt, the team's other top defender in that respect, has been on the shelf while recuperating from an offseason foot surgery.

Vincent, 28, missed most of last year — his first with the Lakers — due to a knee injury. His offense has been miserable through his first 19 games of 2024-25. He's averaging just 2.8 points on .313/.209/.333 shooting spits, making the University of California at Santa Barbara product essentially a non-factor on that end of the floor.

While the Lakers are rumored to be in the market for back-up center upgrades, it appears one pundit thinks they'll also put out feelers for improvements along the perimeter, too. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report posits that Memphis Grizzlies small forward Marcus Smart could be an intriguing trade option for Los Angeles this year.

"I keep hearing about centers for them, we've talked plenty about the Lakers and the centers market taking shape with [Washington Wizards starting center] Jonas Valančiūnas continuing to be a name linked to there," Fischer said during a recent stream. "Marcus Smart is someone who in theory could fit into that D'Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino type of package."

The former 2022 Defensive Player of the Year while with the Boston Celtics, Smart is off to an uneven start to his 2024-25 season, though at least he's more assertive in looking for his offense than Vincent has been. The 30-year-old is averaging 9.4 points on .380/.320/.857 shooting splits, 4.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks across his 10 healthy games (five starts) for the 13-7 Grizzlies.

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