Bulls Rumors: Chicago Best Served to Stay Away from J.R. Smith

While the Bulls do need to make a move to solidify their status as the Eastern Conference's top team, J.R. Smith is not that guy. So, it is a little puzzling to read that they are interested in acquiring his services. 

According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles, Smith has the Bulls on his radar. 

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Free-agent swingman J.R. Smith currently lists on his Twitter page the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers as teams he is considering.

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The Bulls need to either drop out of those sweepstakes or hope he goes somewhere else and does so fast. The Bulls shouldn't even be considering Smith at this point. 

While Smith is a fine player, he should not be anywhere near the team's top priority. When Rip Hamilton returns from his injury, Chicago will have him, Grady Brewer and Kyle Korver to man the shooting guard position. Smith would just be overkill and not nearly enough of an upgrade to pursue. 

No, what the Bulls need to be pursuing is a quality backup point guard. Derrick Rose logged too many minutes for the team last year and wasn't at all sharp when the team lost to Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011. 

Now Rose has a back injury which has caused him to miss the last three games. He logs more than 35 minutes a game, far too many for a point guard. The Bulls need to go out and find a point guard that can take three to five minutes a night away from Rose, if not more. 

While that may not seem like a lot, realize that the Bulls have more than 30 regular-season games remaining. Taking a few extra minutes a game off makes all the difference in the world come playoff time. Especially now that he's dealing with an injury, anything that will keep the franchise player fresh in the postseason is something that has to happen. 

It seems okay to look at Smith, but this move doesn't help the Bulls. It will cost them time and money to pad a position that's already strong.

A nice example of the kind of player they should pursue is Ramon Sessions in Cleveland. As was reported through Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles, ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard said that the Lakers are interested. 

If the Lakers are pursuing Sessions, the Bulls need to do everything in their power to find out if Sessions is truly available. If he is, then the Bulls need to put a package together to outdo the Lakers. They have far more young talent, so it's plausible to say the least. 

Bringing in Smith would do nothing more than keep him away from a potential playoff opponent. There are greater needs out there and potential targets to aggressively pursue that would help them better than Smith. 

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