{"id":170111,"date":"2025-12-17T18:13:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T23:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=170111"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T23:13:34","slug":"lakers-marcus-smart-trade-rumors-bucks-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/17\/lakers-marcus-smart-trade-rumors-bucks-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Seem Unwilling to Trade Veteran Guard Despite Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

With offseason acquisitions now eligible to be traded, many Lakers fans are clamoring for the team to make a move, and LA appears to be focused on 3-and-D players. However, one summertime signing could very well stay put despite rumored interest in his services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Seem Unwilling to Trade Veteran Guard Despite Interest<\/h2>\n

Fischer: Bucks Eyeing Smart, Lakers Not Budging<\/b><\/h3>\n

NBA insider Jake Fischer <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> Tuesday that the Milwaukee Bucks are interested in defensive Marcus Smart, a former Defensive Player of the Year who signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the <\/span>Lakers<\/span><\/a> in July.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMarcus Smart is another defensive-minded guard whom the Bucks have looked at previously, sources say, but it\u2019s difficult to see the Lakers making him available A) after securing Smart on a favorable deal via the buyout market and B) when they have their own point-of-attack defensive issues.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 16 games (10 starts), the 31-year-old Smart has averaged 10.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game on .421\/.305\/.917 splits. Despite a <\/span>recent blunder against the Phoenix Suns<\/span><\/a>, Smart has provided solid play on the court along with commendable leadership off of it. He has proven essential regardless of the situation, currently starting in place of an injured <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a> (<\/span>calf strain<\/span><\/a>). And while his offensive production has fluctuated, his defensive chops have never wavered, a relief considering the Lakers\u2019 poor effort on that end of the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nov
Nov 23, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) and Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) goes for a loose ball during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lakers Taking Accountability for Defensive Struggles<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Lakers\u2019 defensive lapses have come to light amid an 18-7 start, with head coach JJ Redick calling the team out and players taking ownership. Recounting a film session after LA\u2019s win over Phoenix, <\/span>Deandre Ayton<\/span><\/a> said <\/span>Redick was blunt in his assessment<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJJ really got on us and basically showed us \u2018Y\u2019all showing y\u2019all are [expletive] right now and it\u2019s time to tighten up a little bit.\u2019 You got to have some pride on the defensive end.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Lakers currently rank <\/span>20th in defensive rating<\/span><\/a>, with analysts pointing to their <\/span>NBA Cup loss to San Antonio<\/span><\/a> and the blown lead against Phoenix as key sticking points.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smart noted that a recent team meeting \u201cexposed\u201d the Lakers\u2019 flaws significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe scouting report against us is we’re not guarding people,\u201d <\/span>he said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAnd if we want to be great in this league and do what we’re trying to do, you have to be able to guard.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> told reporters that Redick expected more defensive effort from both him and LeBron James, something Doncic has taken to heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Redick] was right. You got to get a little bit more, especially from the star players. So that\u2019s on us, that\u2019s on me,\u201d he <\/span>addeid<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Smart\u2019s leadership and Doncic\u2019s improvement, the Lakers\u2019 defense could see another boost from forward <\/span>Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a>, who logged seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block on Sunday after being buried on the bench for a month. His commitment and readiness are exactly what the Lakers need there, even though the alternative solution cannot be denied.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where the Lakers Stand on Trade Rumors<\/b><\/h3>\n

Going forward, it appears \u201c3-and-D\u201d will be the Lakers\u2019 priority from now until February, with players like <\/span>Keon Ellis<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Herb Jones<\/span><\/a> fitting the team\u2019s <\/span>preferred timeline<\/span><\/a>. Though Smart is currently off the table (along with the obvious big three), the team still has expiring contracts of <\/span>Gabe Vincent<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Maxi Kleber<\/span><\/a> to offer, not to mention <\/span>rumored candidate<\/span><\/a> Dalton Knecht<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>several picks and swaps<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The clock has already started on the Lakers\u2019 trade talks, and fans will have to wait and see if those rumors become reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Allan Henry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With offseason acquisitions now eligible to be traded, many Lakers fans are clamoring for the team to make a move, and LA appears to be focused on 3-and-D players. However, one summertime signing could very well stay put despite rumored interest in his services. Lakers Seem Unwilling to Trade Veteran Guard Despite Interest Fischer: Bucks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":170122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,15,62,3,4721],"tags":[4556,1419,2279,1133,428],"class_list":["post-170111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-bucks","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-austin-reaves","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-jj-redick","tag-luka-doncic","tag-marcus-smart"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170111"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170125,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170111\/revisions\/170125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}