NBA Free Agency 2012: L.A. Lakers Should Gamble on J.R. Smith as Backup to Kobe

The Los Angeles Lakers' front office has put the team into a sticky situation to start the 2011-12 condensed NBA season off.

With two key mishaps, the Lakers went from perennial contenders to nearly fighting for the bottom two playoff spots.

By letting Shannon Brown walk, a fully preventable issue, and trading Lamar Odom—an act that was forced upon the Lakers when David Stern vetoed the trade that would've sent him to New Orleans for Chris Paul—the Lakers have fallen out of the limelight, riding shotgun to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Management semi-righted its wrongs by bringing in Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy, but the gaping hole at the SG position has Kobe Bryant running rampant at 37.7 minutes per game. Eventually he'll wear out.

If the Lakers are going to reclaim elite status in the NBA and be in the conversations with teams like Oklahoma City, Chicago and Miami, they need to address that problem, not necessarily immediately, but correctly.

And the only correct signing to alleviate some of Kobe's offensive burdens is to bring in ex-Nugget, J.R. Smith.

Take a look at the Lakers bench.

Metta World Peace is a shade of his former self, shooting 7.4 percent from downtown. Steve Blake is out for up to a month with a rib injury. Darius Morris is still trying to find his niche with this Lakers team. Jason Kapono's main function, to knock down threes, is broken and he's only shooting 30.8 percent from deep. McRoberts and Murphy are the only bench players actually doing something, and they're barely getting playing time behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

The Lakers are missing that spark plug. They're missing that James Harden/Jamal Crawford, instant offense player who can come off the bench and drop 25 on any given night.

Enter J.R. Smith.

Smith had his struggles in Denver, but I think he deserves a fresh start for a new team, and who better for a young scorer to play behind than the legendary Black Mamba himself?

Smith will be able to play within the flow of Mike Brown's offense and give the Lakers that desperate spark they need off the bench. Granted he's got some maturity problems, and he tends to get a bit trigger-happy at times, but an ego as big as Kobe's will have little tolerance for the shenanigans that have been J.R. Smith.

Bryant will be able to help the young guard mature and mold his game to the next level. Though the competition isn't the same, Smith is averaging 33.5 points per game for the Zheijang Golden Bulls, shooting 48.1 percent from downtown and 51.3 percent from inside. He's also averaging 7.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 steals in his 37.4 minutes per game.

For the Golden Bulls, Smith has become their primary offensive weapon; their go-to guy. It's that kind of responsibility that has helped Nicolas Batum mature for the Portland Trail Blazers (he was the go-to for SLUC Nancy in France), and it's that kind of role that will help Smith take his game to the next level.

When the Chinese basketball season ends in March, J.R. Smith will be able to provide valuable minutes off of the bench to give Bryant a breather, thus making him more effective in the waning minutes of the game.

Who knows, Smith might one day be the heir to Kobe's throne.

Kristian Winfield is a Featured Columnist for the Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BriscoXCI