Marcus Smart watch: Nets trades eliminate another potential suitor for point guard

LAS VEGAS -- The Celtics probably weren’t sweating much about the possibility of a big offer sheet heading Marcus Smart’s way in the coming weeks, given the complexion of the market. Still, life just got a bit tougher for Happy Walters (Smart’s agent) overnight as one potential Smart suitor came off the board.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com was first to report on Friday that the Nets had made a pair of deals. Brooklyn first sent Jeremy Lin to the Atlanta Hawks with a second-round pick in order to free up some additional salary cap room off their books. Shortly afterward, they agreed to rent out $20+ million in salary cap space by taking on the expiring contracts of Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur in the trade.

The Nets also managed to land a pair of draft picks from the Nuggets (2019 protected first round pick, 2020 second round pick) for taking on the pair of overpaid power forwards. By dumping the deals, the Nuggets managed to escape the luxury tax for next season by dumping a significant portion of their payroll.

So how does this all relate to the Smart situation?

These deals effectively take Brooklyn out of the running to sign Smart outright to an offer sheet. After the trades are finalized, the Nets will have just a couple million dollars remaining in room under the salary cap, falling far short of what would be needed to appeal to Smart in an offer.

Additionally, any hypothetical sign-and-trade with Brooklyn would essentially be off the table because of the lack of potential fits on the Nets roster from a salary matching standpoint that could be appealing to Boston. Bostonsportsjournal.com reported last night that a sign-and-trade involving Smart was ‘highly unlikely,’ according to a league source.

All of this continues to put a squeeze on Smart as he searches for a multi-year offer sheet from an outside suitor. Sacramento and Chicago are now the last teams on the board that can make life tough for the Celtics and neither has shown any interest in doing so to this point.

The Celtics could try to revisit with Smart’s camp in the coming days to see if they can find some middle ground on an appealing long-term deal to Boston. Otherwise, Smart rolling the dice by accepting a one-year qualifying offer remains the most likely scenario from this saga.