J.R. Smith Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Rumors: J.R. Smith, Jazz, Nolan Smith

May 9th, 2012 at 8:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets took a major step toward joining the Thunder in the second round with a win over the Lakers last night, while the rest of the Northwest looks ahead at the offseason. Here's the latest from the division:

Former Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, who's expected to turn down his $2.5MM Knicks option for next season, has been keeping a close watch on his former team as they play in the postseason, writes Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.
Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune says Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor is poised to make only minor moves this summer, but Smith believes the franchise is still searching for its identity.
Pete Christopher of OregonLive.com encourages the Blazers to hang on to Nolan Smith, the 21st pick in last year's draft, and go after an experienced veteran point guard to mentor him.

J.R. Smith Expected To Decline Option

April 18th, 2012 at 4:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after he returned from China and signed with the Knicks, J.R. Smith told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida that he anticipated picking up his second-year player option and remaining with the Knicks. I was a little skeptical at the time, since the option will only be worth about $2.5MM, and Smith should easily be able to land a longer and larger deal on the open market.

So it's not a huge surprise to see Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reporting that Smith is expected to turn down his option for 2012/13. According to Kennedy, Smith will seek a multiyear deal, with the Timberwolves, Clippers, and Magic among the teams likely to have some interest.

If Smith does opt out of the second year of his contract, the Knicks will have difficulty re-signing him. Even if New York doesn't pursue a big-name free agent, the team may need to use its mid-level exception to retain Jeremy Lin, leaving little to offer Smith, who wouldn't have Bird rights.

When Smith came back from China, most of his NBA suitors could only offer portions of their mid-level or mini mid-level exceptions, meaning he had to sign for a discount to join the Knicks. In 2010/11, Smith earned $6MM+ for the Nuggets. While he may not find a multiyear guarantee that pays him $6MM+ annually, he should at least be able to easily exceed the $2.5MM on his option year.

Atlantic Notes: Carmelo, Smith, Celtics, Humphries

March 12th, 2012 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Here's the latest out of the Atlantic, where the 76ers' Sunday win extended their division lead to three games:

Carmelo Anthony wasn't on board with the Knicks' signing of J.R. Smith, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. While Anthony's public comments indicated he was behind the move, Carmelo "was not gung-ho and was 'hurt' Knicks upper management tossed his advice out the window," according to Berman.
WEEI.com's Paul Flannery examines how the Celtics might fill the void in the middle, following Jermaine O'Neal's wrist injury and Chris Wilcox's heart condition.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes that Kris Humphries was cryptic when asked if he'd waive his no-trade clause for the right deal: "Would you jump off a bridge? It depends how high it is. It depends on if there’s a drowning baby in the water…. Cause if you jump in the summer, the water was warm enough, you know it’s deep underneath." Humphries' point, I believe, is that his decision would vary depending on where the Nets intended to send him.
The Nets' MarShon Brooks isn't worried about the trade deadline, as he tells Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger.

Knicks Notes: Smith, Chandler, Backcourt

March 11th, 2012 at 10:50am CST by Daniel Seco

Struggling to make any strides in a muddled playoff picture, the Knicks kick off a full slate of NBA action on Sunday against a 76ers team currently allowing the fewest amount of points per game. The Knicks presently occupy the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a middling Bucks squad two games back. Making noise in the news for a multitude of reasons, let's head to the Garden to see what's going on with the Knicks.

With J.R. Smith demonstrating inconsistency as a starter since assuming Landry Fields' former role, Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni has reinstated Fields into the starting lineup effective immediately thanks to his improved play as a reserve, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Smith, signed just prior to the All-Star break after a stint in China, has averaged 8.9 PPG in his nine games with the Knicks. The former first-round pick out of New Jersey has been making headlines for his risque actions off the court leading to a hefty fine by the league.
By many accounts the Knicks made one of the best moves of the abbreviated off-season by luring Tyson Chandler away from the Mavericks with a lucrative contract. According to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, Chandler believes the Knicks' roster has enough talent to close out games. "I feel like we may be the deepest team in the league. We should be able to come at teams in waves. It's a matter of putting that together." A newly-beardless Chandler, 29, makes his return to the starting lineup Sunday against the Sixers after missing two games with hamstring issues.
Rather than focusing on fixing the struggling Knicks via trade, D'Antoni wants to explore providing the tandem of Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis more minutes together on the court to see how such a pairing may improve the squad's overall performance, writes Mark Hale of the New York Post.

J.R. Smith Plans To Stay With Knicks

February 23rd, 2012 at 5:37pm CST by Sean Highkin

Before Thursday night's game game against the Heat, new Knick J.R. Smith told FoxSports.com's Chris Tomasson (via Tomasson's Twitter feed) that he plans to pick up his player option and remain with the Knicks for the 2012/13 season.

Upon returning from a stint in China, Smith signed a two-year contract with the Knicks last week worth a pro-rated version of the $2.5MM mini mid-level exception. The contract included a player option for next season also worth $2.5MM.

Atlantic Notes: Lopez, Smith, Humphries, Raptors

February 18th, 2012 at 9:29pm CST by Daniel Seco

With Jeremy Lin stealing most of the Atlantic's headlines, let's take a look around the rest of the division to see what else is going on:

Nets center Brook Lopez will make his season debut on Sunday against the Bucks at home after breaking his right foot during a preseason game in December, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal. The Nets had hopes at the beginning of the season of using Lopez, 23, as a trade chip to acquire Magic center Dwight Howard before Lopez suffered the injury.
Jeremy Wagner of The New York Times holds out hope that the newest addition to the Knicks bench can prove doubters wrong with strong play on the court and proper decision-making off the court. J.R. Smith, 26, shared MVP honors of the 2004 McDonald's All-American game with Howard, and according to Wagner, was anxious to prove himself that night thanks to the presence of Carmelo Anthony, who was sitting courtside.
One of the worst teams in the league knocked off one of the best teams on Saturday when the Nets shutdown the Bulls 97-85 in Chicago. In a performance that's bound to get other teams on the phone with the Nets to start trade talk, Kris Humphries lit up the scoreboard with 24 points and 18 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. After two consecutive 20-point and 10-rebound games, Humphries is currently averaging 13.2 PPG and 10.2 RPG on the season.
The Raptors are struggling to construct an identity on both offense and defense, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. They aren't considering trades to shake up the roster at this point, but rather are looking at extra practice time to help the 9-23 squad make adjustments heading into All-Star Weekend.

Odds & Ends: Bryant, Cap, Allen

February 18th, 2012 at 4:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

Today's matinee between the Clippers and Spurs, two of the top teams in the Western Conference, highlights a light NBA schedule. Here's what's up around the league:

Pau Gasol is averaging a career-low 16.6 PPG, and Kobe Bryant believes trade talk is one reason for the uncharacteristic performance, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times notes.
HoopsWorld's Jason Fleming has a rundown on the available cap space for each team. He notes the Grizzlies, who stand just over the tax line, could get under by making a deal before the March 15th trading deadline. The Kings, meanwhile, must either take on salary to get up to 85% of the cap or distribute that money to their existing players. Fleming has the Pacers in the same boat as the Kings, but James Posey's amnestied $7.6MM salary pushes them above the 85% line.
Salary cap guru Larry Coon sees J.R. Smith declining his $2.5MM option for next season and heading to another team with more money available. Smith already took the more lucrative option on the table this week when he picked the Knicks for this season over the Clippers. (Twitter links)
Coon tweets the Clippers may covet Ray Allen, one of the Celtics cornerstones GM Danny Ainge may be willing to trade, but doubts L.A. has enough assets to get a deal done.
We examined Tyson Chandler's impact as a free-agent signing earlier today. Justin Kubatko of The New York Times takes a closer look at the Knicks center playing in the shadow of Jeremy Lin.
Fellow Times writer Benjamin Hoffman looks at Brandan Wright, who is one of the centers charged with replacing Chandler in Dallas. The scant $1MM investment is paying off for the Mavs, Hoffman writes.
Mark Cuban and James Dolan are owners who like to spend money and meddle with their teams, but the similarities end there, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, who believes the Knicks' Dolan should try to further emulate his Dallas counterpart.
Omri Casspi's numbers are down since the Cavs acquired him via trade last summer, yet Casspi and coach Byron Scott aren't too concerned, notes Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets that the team feels it got the better of the deal, which sent J.J. Hickson to the Kings for Casspi and a first-round pick.

Knicks Notes: Smith, Lin, Grunwald

February 18th, 2012 at 10:46am CST by Zachary Links

Last night, the Knicks' seven-game winning streak came to a halt as they lost to the Hornets 89-85 at the Garden. Here's a look at some Knicks news as they get set to take on Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks tomorrow afternoon..

The Knicks aren't concerned about J.R. Smith's past off-the-court troubles, writes Christopher Hunt of ESPNNewYork.com. “We did our due diligence on this and we had people that had, let’s say, inside personal experience with J.R. and they all came out in favor of this move,” Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald said.
Grunwald hopes to keep Smith beyond 2012 and is hopeful that it will be more than a "one-year run" for the guard in New York, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
In the same piece, Berman notes that the Knicks might now be faced with a good problem in that they will have too much depth. Rookie power forward Josh Harrellson returns after the All-Star Break from a fractured wrist and point guard Baron Davis is set to debut.
With the emergence of Jeremy Lin and the addition of Smith, Grunwald believes that New York is in position to contend, writes Berman.

Knicks Sign J.R. Smith

February 17th, 2012 at 5:53pm CST by Sean Highkin

The New York Knicks have officially announced the signing of J.R. Smith to a two-year contract. An agreement between the Knicks and the veteran guard was announced earlier today. The deal is reportedly worth a pro-rated version of the Knicks' mini mid-level exception, with a player option for the 2012/13 season worth $2.5MM.

Smith played for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout, signing a one-year, $3MM contract. He played well, averaging 34.4 PPG, but his team underperformed and did not make the playoffs. Upon announcing his return to the NBA, Smith was linked to the Clippers and Lakers before ultimately deciding on the Knicks.

Stein On Kaman, Andersen, Jennings, Smith

February 17th, 2012 at 4:17pm CST by Luke Adams

In this week's installment of his Weekend Dime, ESPN.com's Marc Stein names his picks for the NBA's first-half awards. LeBron James and Chris Paul highlight the list as the East and West MVPs, respectively, while Jeremy Lin makes an appearance as the league's Most Improved Player.

After making his choices for the pre-All-Star awards, Stein also shares a few notes on the trade market, so let's round up the highlights:

Chris Kaman is a "near lock" to be dealt by March 15th. This isn't good news for the Heat, who were hoping to pursue Kaman if the Hornets bought out his contract after the trade deadline, but it's not a surprise — Kaman has some value and it sounds like there are teams with interest.
Chris Andersen has received increased minutes lately with Nene Hilario and Timofey Mozgov out of action, but the Nuggets are open to dealing the Birdman. Any potential trade partner would have to take on the two years and $9MM+ that will still remain on Andersen's contract after this season.
Brandon Jennings' comments last week about eventually exploring his free agent options haven't altered the Bucks' perception of him as a franchise cornerstone. According to Stein, Jennings' comments "struck many observers as an ill-conceived frustration rant" after the Bucks guard wasn't named to the Eastern All-Stars.
While J.R. Smith will receive the full amount the Knicks have left on their mini mid-level exception (approximately $2.38MM), his 2011/12 NBA earnings will only work out to about $1.92MM due to the lockout pro-ration.