There may be no free-agent-to-be juggling as many balls as Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics -- and one of those balls may be a July 1 bid from his hometown Dallas Mavericks.

An NBA source tells DallasBasketball.com that depending on Smart's asking price, the Mavs can be expected to explore pursuing the 6-4 guard, a defense-first battler who scores 10 points per game for a Celtics team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

This news is part of the Mavs juggling balls, too. The coming hours are heavily devoted to Thursday's NBA Draft, when Dallas has the No. 5 pick. But who gets drafted (and at what position) is part of the puzzle of who might be pursued on July 1. (Or in some cases, given Dallas' unique "June Room'' situation, in the next two days.)

Smart can be a puzzle piece.

On the one hand, Smart, the sixth-overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, seems committed to a return to Boston. "I'm here,'' he said. "They're already planning for me to be here. Those guys, I tip my hat to those guys. You don't see a lot of organizations that's as clear about their players as the way this organization does it."

But that comment -- valid in terms of both how GM Danny Ainge has built these Celtics and in terms of what restricted free agency means -- followed another remark in which Smart stated that he believes he's worth more than $12 million to $14 million per season due to how he impacts games.

"To be honest, I'm worth more than $12 to $14 million," Smart told ESPN. "Just for the things I do on the court that don't show up on the stat sheet. You don't find guys like that. I always leave everything on the court, every game. Tell me how many other players can say that."on how he impacts games in ways that go beyond the box score.''

His point is a good one. But Smart is not a quality shooter, is tied to the Celtics in the sense that they can match any offer, and may be hitting restricted free agency at a time when role players -- even high-quality ones -- aren't getting that sort of payday.

Meanwhile, Smart has another concern: The native of Flower Mound, Texas, performed in the playoffs with a heavy heart, the result of his mother, Camellia, having been diagnosed with cancer. She's here in Texas. Surely there is a part of Smart -- who in the playoffs wrote "Mama's Boy" on his shoes to honor her -- who might see advantages in playing for his hometown team.

There is also a part of Smart who could see this summer's market, sign a Qualifying Offer to stay in Boston for another year (at $6.1 million) and hit free agency in the summer of 2019. But if he's open to a departure? I doubt that Dallas views "$14 million'' as its "right price.'' But our calculations say the Mavs can work a "Nuclear Winter'' trade elsewhere (say, for Washington's Bradley Beal) and still have $10 million left to spend elsewhere. And again, the machinations involved in Thursday's NBA Draft can greatly impact Dallas' money and Dallas' thinking. (See David Lord's exclusive look at "June Room'' and "winning the draft'' here.) In whatever form this week and the rest of this month take, Smart wouldn't be at the top of the priority list. But it fits, according to the cap now and according to Dallas' thinking going forward.

This seems like a dreamy concept, but it's worth dreaming about: Dennis Smith Jr., Beal and Smart as a three-guard rotation?

"I got a lot to think about,'' said Smart, noting that while his "heart'' is with Boston, "there's definitely going to be some factors going into it."

In other words, a lot of balls to juggle. For him -- and at this moment, for the Mavs, too.