The Los Angeles Lakers let Marcus Smart go to the Houston Rockets on a bargain contract to mark the second straight year that a crucial role player left LA to join Ime Udoka’s team. Last summer, Dorian Finney-Smith went to Houston just months after the Lakers spent three second-round draft picks to acquire him. Both players have closer relationships with Luka Doncic, and the Rockets keep adding spice to the rivalry by stealing from the purple and gold.
Doncic recruited Smart to LA. He knew the Lakers needed a point-of-attack defender. Smart’s leadership and veteran presence mattered. Los Angeles wants to win, which has made it even more baffling that the Lakers keep letting the Rockets steal key pieces.
The Lakers got the last laugh on Finney-Smith. He was close with Luka from their days in Dallas, but the veteran struggled this season. The Rockets are looking to dump DFS after losing to the purple and gold in the first round of the playoffs. The rivalry between these two is just heating up.
Rockets steal Marcus Smart from Lakers just one year after Dorian Finney-Smith heist
The Rockets love to target former Lakers. They got Smart on a bargain contract, and his familiarity with head coach Ime Udoka from their time together in Boston helped. Houston is a defense-first team. They were ecstatic to get Smart, and things were even sweeter because they stole him from the Lakers.
LA fans can still only laugh. The Lakers defeated the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs without Luka Doncic. Austin Reaves missed the first four games of the series. Los Angeles defeated Houston without their two best players for the majority of this showdown. The Lakers are clearly the better team, and Houston is chasing by stealing key pieces.
Losing Smart hurt. The 6’3 guard made a massive impact during his lone season with the Lakers. Convincing him to come to Los Angeles after a buyout in Washington always signaled it would be a one-year union. Smart’s defense, leadership, and toughness made the Lakers better. It's sad to see him go, and fans are even more upset he will be helping a rival next season.
The pressure is building for the Lakers. The Thunder and Spurs are the favorites to win the West. Houston and Minnesota just improved their rosters. The Nuggets loom as a serious threat as long as Nikola Jokic is on the roster. LA promised Luka Doncic upgrades and hasn’t delivered. Fans are furious, especially after LeBron James, Luke Kennard, and Marcus Smart left for zero return.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost a key defender to the Houston Rockets for the second year in a row when Marcus Smart agreed to join them. LA will miss Smart, and the Rockets keep intensifying this rivalry. Houston hasn’t won a playoff series since 2020. They hope Smart is the answer in helping them get over the hump.
The Lakers hope to defeat the Rockets in the playoffs again and make them pay for stealing the former Defensive Player of the Year. Expect there to be plenty of spice whenever these two play each other next season. It will be must-see theater, so don’t miss it.
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