Marcus Smart receives four-year, $52-million contract to stay with Celtics

The restricted free agent did not receive any offers from teams while he was on the market since July 1.

The fact that Marcus Smart is a career 36-percent shooter, including 29 percent on 3-pointers, makes him a target for critics.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens, however, pushes those negative numbers aside when it comes to the 24-year-old guard, knowing how important Smart is in all other facets of the game.

“It’s why you can look at stats sheets all you want with Marcus. It just doesn’t tell the story,’’ Stevens said this spring during the playoffs. “It’s his energy, it’s his emotion, it’s the little plays that turn out to be game-changing plays.’’

That is why Stevens often has Smart on the court in crunch time, realizing that when a hustle play is needed, the sixth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft is capable of producing.

Smart is never going to remind anyone of Ray Allen when it comes to shooting, but he is part of the Celtics’ winning formula, and Stevens is one of his biggest boosters.

The Celtics' main order of business this summer was to re-sign restricted free agent Smart, and after more than two weeks, that was accomplished on Thursday.

Smart signed a four-year, $52-million contract with the team he’s spent four seasons with after not getting any offer sheets while on the free-agent market.

The Celtics had scheduled at 4 p.m. press conference at their new practice facility on Thursday, but Smart had to bow out because of stomach flu-like symptons. He instead went to New England Baptist Hospital for IV fluids.

Smart will get an average of $13 million annually through the 2021-22 season after making $3.7 million this past season.

The Celtics could have brought Smart back for a $6-million qualifying offer and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but they decided to get a key part of their defense in the fold long term.

“Keeping Marcus in a Celtics uniform was a top priority, and we’re excited to have accomplished that,” said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge in a statement. “His intensity is unmatched, and the level of toughness that he brings to the team throughout the course of the entire season is second to none.”

Teams around the NBA were reluctant to commit an offer sheet to Smart, knowing the Celtics were likely going to match any deal that was made.

There were also just a handful of teams that had salary cap space, and those teams are headed for the lottery.

So after waiting since July 1, Smart got a deal done with the Celtics, apparently the same contract that was offered last fall when the sides tried to negotiate an extension of his rookie pact.

“This is where I want to be, and I’m ready to put a green jersey back on and get to work,” said Smart in a statement. “I’m determined to help my teammates bring another championship to the best fans in the world.”

The contract puts the Celtics just above the luxury tax level of$123.7 million.

Smart has played 261 games and started 83 for the Celtics, averaging 9.4 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds. Injuries limited him to 54 games and 11 starts last season when he averaged 10.2 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds.

He sat out the final 15 games of the regular season due to thumb surgery and was not available for the first four games of an opening-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks.

But Smart made a difference when he returned for Game 5 with the series tied, 2-2, and helped the Celtics win in seven games.

“He impacts winning,’’ Stevens is fond of saying. “We’re glad he’s on our team. I think he’s as tough as they come. He’s a true competitor. He matches his intensity with a physical toughness.’’

Said Smart: “That’s me. That’s how I was raised. I’m the youngest of four boys. My whole life, I had to fight. I had to get down and do things in order to secure my spot in the household.’’

Smart’s mother, Camillia, was diagnosed earlier this year with bone marrow cancer and she is undergoing treatment in Dallas.