Sign J.R. Smith Now, Ask Questions Later

With Kenyon Martin already getting minutes with the Los Angeles Clippers, Smith is the one free agent out there tantalizing teams who believe they’re only one or two moves away from a special season. Along with the Clips, who of course due to the loss of Chauncey Billups have a spot nice and warm for Smith to jump into, the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers have also shown potential interest.

The Knicks, even with Linsanity running at full bore right now, could obviously use some backcourt help, and since Smith plays the two his addition in theory wouldn’t take away minutes from Lin or pose as big of a question mark style-wise than Carmelo Anthony’s impending return still does. J.R. Smith on the Knicks does have an interesting ring to it, and D’Antoni’s system could seemingly let him play unhinged in a way that would make George Karl shudder in fear.

Back to the Clippers for a second, who along with a likely starting spot for Smith (as he fits the two position better than Mo Williams or Randy Foye) also offer the most promising team for this season and going forward. Here, like New York Smith would likely be asked to simply fill it up, providing another threat for teams to address not named Blake Griffin or Chris Paul.

Other teams like the Lakers and Bulls, have also reportedly shown interest as the Lakers try to generate more explosiveness on the perimeter (Smith would probably be asked to play some point guard as well) and Chicago still seeks to solve their shooting guard conundrum, though one would think even with his defensive abilities and scoring punch rigid Chicago would be the place where Smith would be asked to reign it in most.

Whether that remains an issue or not is uncertain. Based on what we remember of Smith, we can only speculate in assuming his unconscious style of play is still his calling card. I hope it is. Smith is a wild-card in every way right now; given the number of teams looking to get over the hump, Smith holds all the power in where he’ll land right now. For a team to get involved in trying to bring on his services, there is an underlying agreement that they understand what he brings to the table: volatile scoring and athleticism on both ends of the floor with the added chance that he could burn any game to the ground on any given night, for better or worse.

This season though, with players succumbing to injury or resting to avoid battle fatigue, and the lack of training camps before the season, the idea of chemistry — at least of possibility of destroying it — needs to take a back seat. The Clippers traded for Paul days before the beginning of the regular season, and here they sit as a legitimate contender in the Western Conference. Teams are using their reserves more than ever, guys are learning to play with one another on the fly; the only chemistry during this shortened year was either already built in previous seasons or is being temporarily constructed for the purposes of surviving to the postseason.

That’s why right now is the perfect time for someone to sign J.R. Smith, throw him into the rotation, and see what happens. His skills could be game-changers on the micro and marco-level of this season. The bottom line of the situation is that Smith will decide his journey’s next stop, and wherever he lands it will be understood that sometimes you just have to play with fire.