NBA Rumors: J.R. Smith Would Be a Subtraction by Addition for Upstart Clippers

As of Monday morning, the Los Angeles Clippers sit at 17-8, 2.5 games ahead of the rival Lakers and are second in the Western Conference. Lob City is one of the hottest tickets in the league and there is hope this dysfunctional franchise can make some serious postseason noise for the first time in years.

Why go and mess up the terrific chemistry of the team by signing one of the biggest hot heads in the league?

J.R. Smith, who foolishly signed a deal with a team in China that forced him to stay there until the season ended, will be coming back to the states looking for a playoff  contender to latch onto while stealing minutes from a younger player.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles has reported the Clippers are one of a “handful of teams” interested in the services of Smith.

They’ve already gone down this road with another former Denver Nugget in Kenyon Martin, and don’t need to add anymore fiery personalities playing catchup. K-Mart is learning the playbook now, while Smith wouldn’t return until March and be even more behind. This team has been built on the fly and there is no reason to further complicate matters.

The good news for fans is that the New York Knicks are now convinced they can win a championship with the Linsanity that is Jeremy Lin, which means they are going to be in strong pursuit as well. New York is the favorite to land Smith mostly because they can offer roughly $1.5 million for the remainder of the season more than the Clippers ($2.5 million).

It’s no secret that fans want to make a move in light of the news that Chauncey Billups will miss the remainder of the year with a torn ACL. But that’s where Mo Williams, Eric Bledsoe and Randy Foye come in.

All three of them bring something different to the table and are more than capable of filling in for the absence of Billups. This Clippers team has some real depth to it and adding a player that demands the ball at times and pouts when he doesn’t get it is not an addition.

This isn’t NBA2K12 where you just slap together the most talent possible. Sure, Smith is a prolific three-point shooter that has connected on 37 percent of them in his career. It’s his shot selection and unwillingness to play sound defense that should scare the Clippers away. His bad attitude and stat-stuffing mentality in a contract year will cripple any team.

The Clips are on to something and they are perfectly fine without the rental services of Smith.