JR Smith Chooses the Knicks
by John Raffo on Feb 17, 2012 9:13 AM PST
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PrintJR Smith seems to be joining the New York Knicks. The rumor was out there all yesterday, and there's still no formal confirmation other than Smith's own tweet of "The Knicks it is!", but it seems JR Smith has chosen to play for the Knicks rather than the Los Angeles Clippers. Here's the ESPN link. It seems the choice came down to money:The Knicks had their mini-midlevel exception, the Clippers didn't. Both teams seem to be on the upswing, Smith, should he perform well, will get national attention playing Madison Square Garden. The Knicks also apparently gave Smith a second year player option.
I've never been a JR Smith fan and originally thought he wasn't a great fit for the Clipper team... but then Chauncey Billups went out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon and everything changed. The Clippers, once thick with backcourt players (although all smaller and less offensively gifted than Smith), were suddenly thin at the two guard. Billups primary replacement, Randy Foye, has proven inconsistent. Eric Bledsoe, the second-year player is small for a two guard and is coming off a knee injury. In limited minutes this year, he's seemed completely overwhelmed.
But, it's not as though Smith was a perfect fit. The Clippers primary need is a wing defender. While Smith has the size, he's never been known for a willingness to play defense. In seven years with Denver, his primary role was as an off-the-bench scorer. With Mo Williams already playing that role rather nicely for the Clips, there's some doubt about how much Smith would have helped.
So, where does Clippers GM, Neil Olshey go now? Hard to say. The NBA trading deadline is March 15, still a month away. He's got some end-of-the-bench trade pieces, a couple of expiring contracts, and some trade exceptions to work with... not a whole lot.
On a more positive note, the Clippers did recently bring in another former Nugget in Kenyon Martin. And, to my eyes, Martin has helped the Clippers defense quite a bit. His numbers from the Chinese league were lackluster and we didn't know what we'd be getting but he's been terrific, athletic, heady, and spry. He's given the Clippers frontcourt great depth and flexibility and, along with Reggie Evans and Mo Williams, has turned the Clipper's bench into something coach Vinny Del Negro can rely on, rather than fear.
Has he given the Clippers enough depth that they no longer need that elusive wing defender?
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I'm over this JR Smith drama
I seriously thought he would come to LA, but when I found out he was from NJ, I pretty much got over it. Good luck to the Knicks who just added another Melo type player. Other than Lin, the Knicks do not have what i would call a true leader in the locker room. Who can check JR when he goes nuts?
"Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance" -Jean-Paul Sarte
We're definitely too short at the wing
in term of depth and size. We need to trade Bled, Mo or Foye to get a 2/3 tweener.
May be the knicks would swap either Shumpert or Fields with Bled as they’re thin at the 1.
I wouldn’t mind to give up either Mo or Bled to land one of the Rockets SG.
by paris clips man on Feb 17, 2012 9:22 AM PST reply actions
if J.R. is going to the Knicks then they don't have a need for fields as much
that would be a good pickup and he’s a high character guy
Max McCarthy
by Swagmeister33 on Feb 17, 2012 12:34 PM PST up reply actions
The Clips can try
but the Knicks need Landry a lot more than they need a turnover prone young PG (or maybe he’s a combo guard) especially if Baron is suppose to be back soon.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 18, 2012 5:48 AM PST up reply actions
Still need another wing
Gomes has completely played himself out of the rotation and Foye is way too inconsistent to continue to be the starting 2 guard. I expect the Clippers to sign someone to a 10-day contract (and give that guy some playing time) and then look hard for a trade after March 1st. It’ll be interesting to see who might be available and what teams are ready to start dumping some contracts
Before Chauncey went down the need was a wing defender
Now I’d prefer a wing with size with who plays mediocre D but can also hit an outside shot. Since Chauncey’s injury, with Foye in the starting lineup and Mo cooling off, our 3-point shooting has been horrible. We need one of those Azuibuke/Morrow/Williams/Rush types that GSW always seems to turn up.
Proudly enduring the pain since the days of Bill Walton's foot.
Now living the good life in Lob City, CA.
Agreed
Maybe Bobby Simmons can find that again. He did well in that roll and I think the big contract forced him to try to do more than he could.
Play good D, spot up behind the arc and hit open 3s.
Good thing Caron’s been so good for us lately.
Was just checking out Simmons' stats....
…he’s really fallen on hard times the past couple of years. He’ll be 32 in June. I would guess his best days are behinds him. Too bad, he was a solid role player.
After March 1st Reggie Williams might be available
He would fit in one of the TPE and can’t imagine the Bobcats really would be opposed to moving him
Rush would be the perfect fit for us
But I don’t see why the dubs would trade him.
by paris clips man on Feb 17, 2012 9:49 AM PST up reply actions
They probably won't
I wasn’t suggesting any of those guys per se. I was suggesting that they always seem to find those types of guys. And with the exception of Rush, I believe the first three were all undrafted/D-League types. What we really need is whoever scouts the D League for them to join Olshey’s staff and find us a guy.
Proudly enduring the pain since the days of Bill Walton's foot.
Now living the good life in Lob City, CA.
Why Monta?
He has suspect defense at best. He is a volume shooter. Plus, he is not a true PG and too small to be a SG. How many assets won’t we have to give GSW? No. No. No.
"Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance" -Jean-Paul Sarte
Just wondering what the general consensus is on him.
His career #’s indicate his scoring has improved tremendously over the last few seasons.
by SoCalBoltFan on Feb 17, 2012 9:41 AM PST up reply actions
He is the original Lil Chucker
Remembers when you could buy a nosebleed ticket at the Sports Arena and end up courtside.
I want Ray Allen
Boston isn’t going anywhere and with the team we have right now we need to put all our chips in…trade Bledsoe and Gomes plus one of the future 2nd round picks we got from NO for Ray Allen.
It's Hip to be a Clip!
Ray Allen isn't coming over
Boston is still trying to get its last run and the salaries won’t match. You could add Randy Foye in there, but Boston won’t accept that…we’d be just giving away dead weight for a legit player.
Let's be real now...
Boston is sub-mediocre. Ainge is drumming up rhetoric about “one last run”, but in reality, the Celtics are old and inconsistent. They just lost to the Pistons and Rose-less Bulls. This is not a team that can pose a serious threat to Chicago or Miami in the playoffs… a BETTER Celtics team got owned by Miami last year.
If Ainge is smart, he’ll come to his senses and blow it up at the deadline. That means trading their old stars to contenders and taking what they can get in return. They’re better off tanking for a high pick than continuing to ride this sentimental “one last run” mantra all the way to a first-round loss.
Clippers // Chargers // Rays // Boise State
"The Lakers do win games. But things can change." - Blake Griffin
Bill Simmons seems to think that Boston would do
Bledsoe + Foye + Cook for Allen. I would definitely do this but I don’t think Boston would do it.
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"unknown
by bestclipfan on Feb 17, 2012 10:06 AM PST up reply actions
yea i'd do that too
you’d think simmons would have a good pulse on the Celts as he’s a fan, but I don’t see why they do that either. They’ve been playing better, and the PG spot is maybe the one spot they don’t need to get younger.
I've still baffled why they want to get rid of Rondo so bad
Admittedly he’s not great offensively, and I’ve heard that his stats are skewed by the stats keeper in Boston…but still, he’s got talent..
what about grant hill?
if the suns finally decide to trade nash, they will probably be willing to trade hill also. hill is only 6.5 mill and his contract ends at the end of the year. so clips won’t be stuck with a bad contract. yes he is old but he is still better than foye.
I would love to see Nick Young on the Clippers
we’re cheap, like to drink and are pissed off.
WHO WANTS A FREE SHARPIE?? -- Blake Griffin
Isn't he just a slightly younger Randy Foye?
Proudly enduring the pain since the days of Bill Walton's foot.
Now living the good life in Lob City, CA.
Taller, slightly younger...
a bigger chucker, and a lesser defender. I’ll never understand the fondness for Young around here.
I would too but Wizards probably won't trade him for scrubs or expiring contracts
No, it's the Clip Show!
Nick Young is a chucker.
Yeah, yeah, Swaggy P dropped 35 on the Blazers, but come on now.
Clippers // Chargers // Rays // Boise State
"The Lakers do win games. But things can change." - Blake Griffin
ya i don't know about that
Max McCarthy
by Swagmeister33 on Feb 17, 2012 12:35 PM PST up reply actions
Like ive been saying
I wasnt opposed to him coming to the clips… but if he cant see that the obvious and better choice was the clippers and his is more about the money then winning then you can tell where his mind is. We dont need guys that only are about the money which Smith obviously is… you cant tell me he would rather play with lin then with CP3… unrealistic. So he is not the type of player we need… we need guys that want to win and arent about the money. Now we can stop talking about this and maybe now we can get behind Foye which he has obviously been hearing and now that he doesnt have to worry about going back to the bench maybe it will give him confidence and play better.
by My dukie twinkles on Feb 17, 2012 10:14 AM PST reply actions
The difference in money was pretty big.
The fact that he mulled it over for so long, says that he definitely weighed the odds. New York pretty much offered him a guaranteed $4.5M (player option for 2012-13) over the next 2 years. We offered him approximately $700-800K for one season. If he comes in and severely blows out his knee or ruptures an Achilles like Chauncey, then his future earning potential is in jeopardy and he wouldn’t be helping anybody to any championship this year and probably the next.
He’s from Jersey and will be closer to his family and friends. He’d be making more money and playing in the biggest city in the most famous arena. The Knicks do have a nice collection of players that just became nicer with the addition of Smith. If Melo and Smith can gel with Lin and Baron can provide any number of meaningful minutes for them, then they’re season looks very promising. Do I like our chances better if we added Smith? Sure, but he still ended up in a nice situation that made a lot of sense for himself. Clipper fans should not fault him for that.
Proud member of Club FTR
by Lawler 4ever on Feb 17, 2012 11:32 AM PST up reply actions
see ya JR! hope you stink it up in NY.
No, it's the Clip Show!
In retrospect, this really makes the best sense for both JR and the Clips
Smith went to the best situation for him, with about $1.5M more this year and a player option for next. Objectively, it’s unrealistic to think that a 26 year old would take 70% LESS money (and no guarantee for next year) to be in an arguably better basketball situation. Looking back, I think you can make a case that it’s always been about the money for him vs the “better basketball situation” – straight out of HS to the pros instead of UNC, going to China to make some $$ during the lockout. Hard to fault him, really – not like he’s on the decline and looking for one last shot at a ring, he’s looking for his next payday, and more money now plus having a guarantee for next year at his option makes it a good move for him.
From our side, it seems that most of us had to convince ourselves that Smith was the right guy, which should be something of a red flag. Smith could have helped on the scoring front, definitely, but I think we’d get more mileage from someone with defensive focus. It’s hard not to become enamored of the scoring potential (I know I certainly talked myself into it), but we don’t have anyone presently doing that necessary “dirty work” on the outside that Evans (and lately Martin) have brought to our interior play. If that person has the ability to spot up for 3s, all the better (think Bruce Bowen). If we’re looking to add offensive punch first, I think a slasher is what we need more than another outside shooter.
we need a slasher have enough players jacking up jumpers
some youth won’t hurt either need young legs when we need the push of energy
Glad that's over
I thought he might be a necessary evil in the absence of Billups. But now that he has decided on the Knicks, I’m glad we didn’t get him. He will probably be more trouble than he’s worth.
"Excellence...is not an act, but a habit" Aristotle
they want deron and howard
Marion is the only road block . Question is do we help them and risk a potential bigger problem in the future alos could be looked at as we keep Dwight from going to LAL personally I rather have them on the Mavs if Dwight is headed West.
I'd help the Mavs just to spurn the Lakers
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"unknown
I've thought about this in the past. His defense would be huge.
The problem is that his contract has a 15% trade kicker. Assuming we trade them Foye and Cook for Marion, we’d be very close to the luxury tax threshold this season. If the threshold is the same this year as it was last season, then we’re talking a difference of about $200K. We would have 13 players under contract with the opportunity to add up to 2 more on minimum deals, but that would put us over the tax threshold.
We’d be at about $69M next summer if Mo opts in and we keep our rookies. We’d have only 10 players under contract and this is before we tried to re-sign Billups, Kenyon, Evans or our 2nd round pick (if we have one).
In 2013, we’d be around $71M assuming both Paul and Blake are on Max contracts and Marion opts in to the final year of his deal.
Adding a player of Marion’s caliber could certainly put us over the top, but we’d pay dearly in the coming seasons.
Proud member of Club FTR
by Lawler 4ever on Feb 17, 2012 1:58 PM PST up reply actions
if cuban wants dwight and deron
i don’t think it matters who he trades contracts to
Stephen Jackson
apparently isnt happy with the bucks, i wonder if we could make a trade for him…
i know most people would be against this
but, for some reason, I think this should be a real possibility. I’m not sure if his contract would thrust us into the luxury tax (assuming sending back foye+gomes), so if it does, maybe he’s not an option, but he was always a pretty good playmaker (albeit still a bit of a chucker), and does have some championship experience. I would hope championship aspirations would appeal to him enough he’d shut up about getting an extension (2 years before his contract expires, I don’t know what he’s thinking). Fits in at the 2, and can slide over to play back up 3.
Yeah his contract extension he just signed makes this a no go
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"unknown
by bestclipfan on Feb 18, 2012 12:18 AM PST up reply actions
he just signed one?
I thought the problem was he was arguing that he should get one even though his contract doesn’t expire until after next year. I thought his contract was just this year and next, meaning expires at the same time at CP3 and Blake. I just wasn’t sure if we took on extra salary (sending out 8 mil, taking on 10) would push us over the tax this season.
I honestly don't see many viable trade scenarios.
I didn’t want Smith, and I want Ray Allen even less. I’d love a shut-down defender who can penetrate a little but knows his roll is secondary to Paul and Griffin. I’d love an Arron Affalo type…though who picked up an NBA offense quicker, but I only see that happening via the draft. Those are the only contracts that are gonna make any real sense. That Barton kid from Memphis looks good, though admittedly, I’ve only seen him play once. Heard good things about him. And the Florida kid whose name I can’t think of right now. Oh, and a coach that’s gonna make this team play playoff-style defense when it counts. Not VDN.
Since the Knicks got JR
they cut balkman… has there been any interest in getting him?? Ive seen him play a few times and hes a bundle of energy… would probably be alot more productive then gomez
by My dukie twinkles on Feb 18, 2012 12:13 AM PST reply actions
this is probably better for us anyway..
Smith is not a team guy, a headcase, has some serious issues…we’ll get someone..maybe not with the same talent..but that can do an acceptable job..who? not sure. i like having a good culture.
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