Knicks Rumors: Jeremy Lin's Emergence Should Stop Knicks from Signing J.R. Smith

J.R. Smith should not be the object of the New York Knicks' desire now that they have found the point guard they have been missing all season long in Jeremy Lin. 

Head coach Mike D'Antoni spoke earlier this week and said that the Knicks had to "aggressively" pursue a player who can help make plays in the back court, which is something they have been missing all season. (Via the New York Post):

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I know [interim general manager] Glen [Grunwald] every day will canvas the league and talk and try to make the team better. Whether it’s D-League, free agency, trades. Whatever make sense and helps the team we’ll do. We have to be very aggressive. We know the areas we need help.

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Within that same article, Smith's name is mentioned as being the object of the team's desire. He has been playing in China, but is on the verge of being let out of his contract and can sign with any NBA team he wants. 

Now that the Knicks have found the point guard they need to run the offense and provide the spark that was missing, they should focus on getting Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire back into the swing of things. 

Contrary to what D'Antoni says, the Knicks don't need more scorers; they need to get the stars they do have playing up to their full potential. 

Anthony has struggled all season due to injuries and putting too much pressure on himself. Stoudemire had an ankle injury that plagued him for a little bit last month, and now is dealing with the tragic death of his brother. 

Eventually, they are going to come back, and there is no reason to think they won't be better than ever. Anthony's groin injury could be the best thing that happened to him, because he can rest and focus on basketball when he gets back. 

Lin is going to start commanding more respect from opposing teams, so even if he isn't able to score 20-25 points every night, he will be able to rack up the assists by setting up Anthony and Stoudemire for easy buckets. 

Smith is not the piece that the Knicks need to become a playoff team in the eastern conference. He would be a one-dimensional player on a team that does not need any more of those. 

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