Looking To Deal A Headache: Five Places J.R. Smith Should Hope To Land

According to an ESPN report, Carmelo Anthony isn’t the only Denver Nugget on the way out. Apparently the Nuggets have had enough of the extremely talented, as well as volatile, J.R. Smith.

The 24 year old is in the final year of a deal set to pay him $6.03 million this year. With his immense skills set and talent level, he’ll have more than a few teams willing to take a gamble on him. And he’ll have an equal grouping that will pass on him because of his attitude issues.

In regards to the talents and skills of J.R. Smith, he’s easily a top ten shooting guard if the game was solely based on ability. You can literally count on both hands the number of players who can do the things he can with a basketball. Heck, there are players considered better than him that doesn’t have the talents and skills of Smith.

Yet his problems lie with his attitude and maturity issues. And though they aren’t as bad as they were two years ago, they still tend to rear their ugly head ever once and a while…especially when Smith isn’t happy with his playing time.

Smith was a starter early in his career and hasn’t been shy in making it known that he wants to return to such a role.

With that said. Here are the top five teams he has a chance at becoming a starter for.

5. Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have a history of taking players that are considered risky in regards of chemistry. The situation wouldn’t be idle for him because he would have to share time with Jason Terry.

However, the possibility of him starting is high because the Mavs would like to slide Caron Butler to his natural three spot. This would allow them to have Shawn Marion and Jason Terry come off the bench.

Smith could also slide over to the point position when Terry comes in and afford Jason Kidd a breather.

The best part of this situation is that Dallas would only need to give up DeShawn Stevenson and the rookie guard Dominique Jones.

Look for Dallas to make a inquiry on what it will take to get Smith.

4. Philadelphia 76ers

I know you’re probably scratching your head on this selection. I mean, the team did just draft overall second pick Evan Turner.

However, Turner isn’t looking like he’s a good fit for this team. With Turner set to start, the only respectable shooter in the starting unit would be Jrue Holiday; a second year point guard.

Turner’s skill set is too much like the teams best player, Andre Iguodala. A player like J.R. Smith, who’s only three years older than Turner, could be the offensive focal point that the 76ers need.

J.R. wouldn’t have any competition for the starting shooting guard spot and Andre Iguodala could be moved back to his natural small forward position. The move would create depth because Thaddeus Young could sub in for three different positions.

The best part about the deal is that it would only require that the 76ers offer up Evan Turner and Tony Battie to make it work from a financial stand-point. Denver could even toss in a future first round pick to spice up the deal.

The move would also be great for J.R. because he would be joining a young team with a head coach that is known for having great relationships with his players.

The likely-hood of this deal happening is slim to none. A deal involving Iguodala for Carmelo Anthony is more a possibility than the one I proposed.

If it does take place, it would require the Denver Nuggets to initiate it because I haven’t heard anything regarding the team wanting to move Evan Turner.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the busier franchises this off-season. They have already been involved in four different trades thus far. One more wouldn’t hurt them. Actually, a deal for J.R. Smith might actually help them and their on-going locker conflicts with Kevin Love and Michael Beasley.

Apparently Kevin Love is scared that he will not get a chance to start with the acquisition of Michael Beasley. He’s been voicing that he isn’t going to be happy playing behind a player that he doesn’t view as being better than him…never mind the fact that Love isn’t better than Beasley. What the heck makes him think he’s done anything in this league to say what he will and won’t be happy with?

Never the less, it's a situation the Timberwolves would like to avoide before the season starts.

The Timberwolves could deal Love and Kosta Koufos for J.R. Smith. Thus helping both clubs out and clearing up chemistry issues in both locker rooms. Being that Denver is in the market for a power forward to replace Kenyon Martin, the move makes perfect sense.

The Timberwolves could keep Beasley at the power forward position, start rookie Wesley Johnson at the small forward position and J.R. Smith could start at the shooting guard spot. This would make the Timberwolves one of the most deadly jump shooting teams in the league, considering they have Martell Webster and Wayne Ellington in reserve.

The move would also provide the Timberwolves with a nice one-two punch in regards to scoring. Beasley and Smith are two of the most explosive young scorers in the game.

J.R. Smith better hope he’s on David Kahn’s wish list.

2. New York Knicks

It’s safe to say that J.R. Smith likes to be seen as much as he likes to be heard? Well what bigger stage to do both than Madison Square?

Being that J.R. Smith is from New Jersey, he’d fit right in with the culture of the East Coast life style. His antics would be perfectly normal in the Mecca of basketball.

In regards to the Knicks needs, they could use an explosive wing scorer to help out Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton. With those two set to be joined by Wilson Chandler and Anthony Randolph in the starting unit, Smith would be free to man the shooting guard position.

And being that his contract is up at the end of the year, it wouldn’t hurt their cap situation at all. They also would still be in a position to trade for Carmelo Anthony because they would have the expiring contract of Eddie Curry and a few others to offer up to Denver.

All the Knicks would need to do to get Smith is package a deal with Kelenna Azubuike and two other low salary players.

The talents of Smith would fit in well with the system that coach Mike D’Antoni employs. Seriously, can you think of a better young shooting guard to stick in this system?

The move would provide Smith with the comfort and audience that he blindly thinks he deserves. It would also put the Knicks in a more favorable position of making the playoffs this season.

This is the one place that he shouldn’t want to go. There would be to many distractions playing so close to home.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

With the departure of LeBron James to the Miami Heat franchise. The Cleveland Cavaliers are in need of a player whose ego is every bit the size of his overall game. It wouldn’t hurt if that player is ultra athletic and covered in tattoos.

All jokes aside though. The Cavaliers need an explosive wing that can create for himself as well as others. J.R. Smith is every bit capable of doing just that. His skill set would afford him the ability to post All-Star like numbers and give Cavalier fans a player they could actually enjoy watching.

The move would also give the Cavalier franchise a strong chance at returning to the post season, even though they don’t have LeBron anymore.

The deal would require them to simply package fan favorite Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker to make it happen. Cavalier fans should hope this happens.

If J.R. Smith is as smart as he thinks he is, he’d be on the phone with his agent trying to make sure this is the place he ends up. It would give him the best chance at stardom being that the team has a solid nucleus of players that are accustom to winning.

I have a strong feeling this is where he will end up.