The Lakers confirmed to sign Smart s follow-up: Details of two-year salary are exposed, and Milton + Goodwin may need to be cut

On July 20, Smart reached a buyout agreement with the Wizards, the 31-year-old former NBA defender of the year plans to join the Lakers after a clarification period.

league sources revealed that Smart will sign a two-year contract with the Lakers in a biennial special, with a salary of about $5.1 million this season, just under $5.4 million in the 2026-27 season. A league source said the second year of the contract was a player option. The Wizards got Smart from the Memphis Grizzlies in a multiplayer deal in February. All believe Smart set a positive example for the young players on the team, especially in defense.

However, the Wizards hope to respect Smart's desire to play for the championship team, and also free up more playing time for the team's many outside players. These players include Bab Carrington, Bilal Cooley Barry, Kay Sean George, AJ Johnson, Trey Johnson, Cory Kispert and CJ McCollum. By tilting the rotation towards inexperienced players, the Wizards are also more likely to be near the bottom of the league rankings for the 2025-26 season, thus retaining their top eight-protected 2026 first-round draft pick.

After the first wave of free agent market, the Lakers focused on Smart. They also initially considered D'Antoni Melton to fill the team's needs in terms of perimeter defense. League sources later said Melton, 27, had links with the Golden State Warriors, but he has not signed yet.

Smart is the NBA's defensive player of the year in the 2021-22 season and has also been selected for the best defensive team three times - except for LeBron James, who was selected for the best defensive team six times, no other player on the Lakers currently has such honors.

After signing Ayton and Laravia in free agent market, the Lakers will focus on finding players to upgrade their defense to make up for the losses caused by Finney Smith's joining the Houston Rockets.

league sources said Doncic communicated with Smart this week to convince the experienced defensive player to join the Lakers. Doncic previously helped the Lakers finalize a contract with Ayton, helping the team sign two highly sought-after players in the buyout market.

Although team sources say details are still being finalized, one way the Lakers create enough salary space to be below the first tycoon line may be to cut Shaq Milton's contract before it is converted to a security contract on July 21, and to sack guard Jordan Goodwin after Smart has passed the clarification period. Goodwin's contract is partially guaranteed.

Smart played for the Boston Celtics in the first nine years of his career, and averaged 10.6 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. If the deal is reached, he will join Rajon Rondo, Rick Fox and Isaiah Thomas and become a well-known Celtic player who joins Los Angeles' rivals in the later stages of his career.

Since leaving Boston in 2022 and being traded to Memphis, Smart has played only 54 games. He missed for a while last season due to an injury to his right index finger.