What Ainge reportedly told Smart about trade rumors

Marcus Smart was among the names being thrown around in Boston Celtics trade rumors prior to Thursday's deadline.

The longest-tenured Celtic won't be going anywhere, however. Instead, the Celtics parted ways with Daniel Theis, Jeff Teague, and Javonte Green while bringing in Evan Fournier, Mo Wagner, and Luke Kornet.

Forsberg: Was Evan Fournier trade the right move for Celtics?

When Smart thought there was a chance his Celtics tenure could be coming to an end, he apparently got reassurance from C's general manager Danny Ainge. According to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, Ainge told Smart he wasn't being offered to teams. Rather, interested teams were reaching out to the Celtics to see if Smart was available.

Smart had been mentioned as a piece of a possible deal that would have brought John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic from Atlanta to Boston. The Hawks ended up standing pat at the deadline and keeping Collins, whose contract expires after this year.

In 25 games played this season, Smart is averaging 12.7 points, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals. The two-time All-Defensive First Team selection will try to help turn Boston's disappointing season around as it starts the post-deadline portion of the campaign with a 21-23 record.

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