{"id":97989,"date":"2022-01-24T13:32:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T18:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=97989"},"modified":"2022-01-24T13:35:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T18:35:17","slug":"marcus-smart-shines-in-return-as-his-trade-eligibility-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=97989","title":{"rendered":"Marcus Smart Shines in Return as his Trade Eligibility Looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON —\u00a0Marcus Smart\u00a0<\/strong>becomes trade-eligible tomorrow, Jan. 25, after signing his four-year extension last offseason.<\/p>\n

A tumultuous half season followed for him and the rest of the Celtics. Boston’s .500 pace from last year dipped below that for much of the early schedule.\u00a0Jaylen Brown\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Jayson Tatum\u00a0<\/strong>have battled some of the worst struggles of their careers, leading to a call-out from Smart of their approach in late-game situations<\/a>. Numerous meltdowns followed, players have left the lineup due to injuries and COVID, in Smart’s case both in recent weeks. Now, as a disappointing January concludes, a shakeup could be imminent.<\/p>\n

So Smart approached each of his teammates before the Celtics’ game in Washington D.C. on Sunday and told them he loved them. It could go down as an ominous moment for the team’s longest-tenured player depending on how the coming weeks play out.<\/p>\n