J.R. Smith: 5 NBA Teams Gunning for Long-Range Assassin
JR Smith's Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls lost to Guangsha in the 32nd round of Chinese Basketball Association and are mathematically out of playoffs. I have no idea what the 32nd round of the Chinese Basketball Association is all about, but I know the ramifications are: J.R. Smith is available sooner rather than later.
There are five teams that are gunning for Smith—or, at least, considering gunning for him. Here they are from bottom to top in degree of chances of landing him:
The Chicago Bulls have an outside shot of getting Smith. It's a matter of whether they actually want him or not and whether or not he would want them. According to Hoopsworld:
"The Chicago Bulls have their Bi-Annual Exception at $1.9 million but role for Smith would probably be an issue for J.R. Additionally, a source said Chicago is undecided on whether or not Smith would be the right move for the organization.
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That indicates that Chicago is thinking about it. With the injuries to Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton, you figure that the odds of them considering offering him that biannual exception just go up.
According to MSG.com:
"The Knicks are still hoping to sign free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith with their "room exception" but the Minnesota Timberwolves could provide serious competition, as they also have the room exception (a pro-rated $2.5 million salary slot) and could offer Smith more minutes and scoring opportunities. Smith, a New Jersey native, has indicated on Twitter that he has strong interest in playing for the Knicks.
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If role matters to Smith, it's hard to believe that he'd go to New York, where he's going to be the fourth or fifth option after the Knicks' version of the Big Three and the newly-emerging Jeremy Lin. It's not impossible that the notion of Ricky Rubio setting him up becomes more attractive to him than watching Carmelo Anthony hog the ball...again.
According to ESPN:
"One source close to the situation told ESPN.com that the Indiana Pacers -- who possess more salary-cap space to spend than any other team in the league at present -- and the Minnesota Timberwolves have expressed interest in Smith.
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So, the bottom line here is, if the Pacers want him, they can probably get him. It's mostly a matter of want. Really, it's hard to imagine why they wouldn't be, but as a Bulls fan, I'm hoping they don't change their mind.
The New York Knicks are the "presumptive favorites," according to ESPN. The primary reasoning behind it is that Smith is from New York, he has left a series of tweets to that effect and they have more money to offer than the Lakers or Clippers. All of that is perfectly sound logic if you ware willing to accept that he doesn't care about role.
The money, when you factor the prorated part, really doesn't make a huge difference over the course of what is essentially a month-and-a-half of regular season play. Probably, the idea of playing for a contender with his close friends, on a team that could win a championship, where one of the two best point guards, if not the best point guard, is setting him up, has a certain appeal.
That, along with the fact that Chris Paul is taking the lead in recruiting, leads me to believe that he'll end up with the Clippers.
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