Marcus Smart – guard – 5 years experience – $12,553,571
Technically speaking, Smart is not a bench player with 40 starts in a 60-game season, but the plan was for the Flower mound native to come off the bench before Hayward’s health intervened mid-season.
And nightly, off the bench or among the starters, Smart did his job without complaint. With a few exceptions, his heat-check fiestas and out-of-control temper flare-ups had become things of the past, producing the best offensive season of his career and an All-Defensive First Team selection to boot.
That all of this value comes on less than half of a max deal’s cost — and did not waiver despite a pandemic and Smart himself coming down with COVID-19 is a testament to the toughness and dedication the unofficial captain of the team shows nightly. For that, nothing less than an A+ will do.
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