The latest Houston Rockets offseason rumor has some fans of the team worried. Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart is expected to decline his $5.39 million 2026-27 player option and become a free agent. According to Marc Stein, Smart to the Rockets is a move the Houston front office is considering. Are fans right to worry?
Why Smart to the Rockets Might Deserve a Passing Grade
Smart just had a terrific playoff series against the Houston Rockets. Over six games, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. He shot 44.8% from three on 4.8 attempts per game.
He was phenomenal, especially as a three-point shooter. But that’s a poor example of who Smart is day-to-day. He had an increased role in the playoffs because of injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. However, during the regular season, he shot a similar volume from three. It’s just that of his 4.7 regular-season attempts, he only made 33.1%.
Why Smart to the Rockets Sounds Dumb
That’s the number one issue that many Houston fans have with Smart to the Rockets as a concept. In the playoffs, the Rockets ranked dead last in three-point field goal percentage. In the regular season, they were in the bottom three in attempts. Adding guards to a forward-heavy roster should be a way of ameliorating that. But if that’s the aim, then the smart move would be to look elsewhere.
Outside of Smart’s series versus the Rockets, the six-foot-three point guard has never been known for his shooting. Instead, he has hung his hat on defense. NBA awards voters took their hats off to him for that in 2022, making him the first guard to win Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton in 1996. As it would happen, 2022 was the year that Smart worked under current Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. They made the NBA Finals together that same season.
But the Rockets don’t have any shortage of defensive stoppers on the roster. In fact, they have one of the best in the entire NBA in Amen Thompson. Before his injury, point guard Fred VanVleet was also known for his defensive tenacity and impact on that end. The Rockets wouldn’t meaningfully benefit from defensive upgrades anywhere other than at center. Unfortunately, their entire offense depends on the low-post wizardry of All-Star center Alperen Sengun.
Why Passing on Smart to the Rockets Might Be a Mistake
The Rockets did have a dire shortage of ball-handling and passing skills last season. VanVleet’s season-long absence was certainly a major contributor to that. While he should be back for 2026-27, a recently torn VanVleet ACL is a precarious thing to rest a team’s fortunes on.
The team tried to give itself some redundancy recently in the second round of the draft. But the Rockets’ Bruce Thornton may or may not be ready for meaningful rotation minutes in his first NBA season. It’s not as if Smart would make no sense at all.
If Smart to the Rockets did happen, he would probably become the best passer on the roster. Of course, passing ability is most valuable in a player who is also a threat to score himself. For instance, Smart’s career assists per 36 minutes are 5.4, with 7.0 as his best. That’s lower than VanVleet at 6.5 for his career and 7.9 as his best. It’s not because VanVleet is a better passer, though; it’s because he poses a greater threat to score. That threat draws defenders away from VanVleet’s teammates and does as much to create the assist opportunity as the pass itself.
Feeding the Big is Smart Basketball
But sometimes it’s hard to beat a really good pass. That’s especially true when you have a really good big man to pass to. Even taking the lousy spacing into account, Sengun would probably love playing with Smart. For big men, scoring is mostly about real estate. There’s nothing worse than fighting for good positioning, then having to surrender it to go collect the entry pass from a hesitant guard. Smart is anything but hesitant.
Creative passers can do wonders for big men’s scoring efficiency. Sengun‘s own struggles with inefficiency come partly from having to fight for positional advantage with the ball already in his hands. If Smart could make it easier for the Rockets’ best offensive engine to score, it might be a bigger offensive upgrade than many fans would expect.
Smart to the Rockets has plenty of caveats. Houston would have to clear cap space to sign Smart for even the low amount he’d be looking for. At 32 years old, with injury-riddled seasons from 2023-2025, the security he’d be looking for in his next contract would also be a gamble for the team that gave it to him. It’s also true that, in the NBA, Smart has never played with a purely post-centric big man like Sengun.
Finally, there’s a very good chance that the whole rumor is NBA insider gamesmanship. Smart’s agent wants to put pressure on the Lakers to make a deal. Stein and the Rockets front office lend a hand. Rockets fans who hate the idea can probably rest easy. But just remember, Smart to Sengun dump-off pass after dump-off pass might be that dumb after all.
© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
