Marcus Smart Reveals Brutal Reality of Celtics Trade

In this story:
During a recent interview with Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Marcus Smart revealed the harsh reality of his trade from the Boston Celtics to the Memphis Grizzlies. Having been a franchise leader in Boston for so many years, Smart was not informed by the Celtics that he was being dealt, but instead found out on Twitter.
"If I’m being quite frank, I knew I would be traded eventually," Smart said. "Just figured it would be the next season, just based off my contract and with the new CBA. We already knew that. But it was just the way it happened. I was told everything was good after asking multiple times. Like, ‘I’m hearing (rumors), what’s going on?’ And they’re like, ‘No, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good.’ And then when I do hear about the trade, it’s from Shams (Charania) on Twitter before I hear from the team."
This is the brutal reality of the NBA business, as even franchise leaders like Smart are not always kept in the loop when they're being included in trade talks. This has been seen several times with players like Smart, and even bigger stars who were blindsided by an unexpected trade.
The NBA is a business, and it's one the players understand well, but that still does not make it any easier when a trade like this happens out of nowhere.
Related Articles
Memphis Grizzlies Announce Signing of Former Lakers Player

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.