Knicks Re-Sign J.R. Smith

JULY 16TH: Smith's deal is actually for a maximum of three years and $17.95MM, with the third year a player option, reports Howard Beck of the New York Times.  Beck also adds, via Twitter, that Smith's agent Leon Rose says the shooting guard originally agreed to a four year pact, as was reported below, but then opted for a shorter deal in order to become a free agent sooner.  If Smith declines his third-year option, he can become a free agent in 2015 with full Bird rights.  As Beck notes in his story, it is peculiar that Knicks GM Glen Grunwald didn't make an effort to clarify this point in his conference call with the media today, especially considering the scrutiny he has been under since news broke of Smith's surgery.

JULY 11TH: The Knicks have made the re-signing of Smith official, according to the club's PR Twitter account.

JULY 10TH: According to cap expert Larry Coon (via Twitter), the Early Bird amount for the coming season is $5,565,000. Assuming Smith will receive the max contract allowable via the Early Bird exception, as had been previously reported, that means he'll earn $24,764,250 over the course of his contract.

The year-by-year amounts work out to about $5.57MM, $5.98MM, $6.4MM, and $6.82MM, respectively.

JULY 4TH: The Knicks have reached an agreement to re-sign J.R. Smith, agent Leon Rose tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). According to Marc Berman of the New York Post (via Twitter), Smith's new deal will be for four years and approximately $24.7MM, while Howard Beck of the New York Times tweets that the fourth year will be a player option.

As Beck notes (via Twitter), the exact amount Smith will earn won't be known until the NBA determines the league's average salary. Because the Knicks held the 27-year-old's Early Bird rights, they're permitted to offer him a contract that starts at 104.5% of the NBA's average salary, which is expected to be in the neighborhood of $5-5.5MM.

As recently as yesterday, a report suggested that Smith would have larger offers on the table from teams besides the Knicks, making it very possible that he'd leave New York. But with the Bucks closing in on a deal with O.J. Mayo, one leading suitor for Smith may have been out of the mix. Additionally, returning to the Knicks always seemed to be Smith's preference, and he showed last summer that he was willing to take a discount to remain in NYC.

Smith, the 2012/13 Sixth Man of the Year, was terrific off the bench for the Knicks last season, averaging 18.1 PPG and recording a 17.6 PER as the club's second scoring option after Carmelo Anthony.

Adrian Wojnarwoski of Yahoo! Sports reported yesterday that Smith, a CAA client, was nearing an agreement with the Knicks.