The New York Knicks are a complete mess early in the season and have been in the bottom portion of the standings even in a weak Eastern Conference. Their front court lacks depth although their back court is pretty loaded with young, talented names like Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Iman Shumpert. Now rumors are spreading that the Knicks are currently shopping J.R. Smith. To give way for Hardaway and Shumpert's development perhaps?
A couple of weeks ago, Ian Begley of ESPN New York passed along an update on Smith revealing that the "Knicks have continued to discuss internally their options to deal him" and that they have been doing so since July. And Begley believes that Smith will not have any shortage of potential suitors this season once he officially becomes on the trade block:
J.R. has had a lot of issues but he can be a big-time scorer when he's doing the right things. There's always a team out there willing to take a chance on somebody if they feel he can put them over the top, and there's no doubt J.R. can play. People are going to be concerned about chemistry issues in the locker room, so it would have to be a strong leadership and coaching staff that take him in.
Obviously, almost the entire Knicks roster are struggling from Phil Jackson's triangle offense but Smith has particularly been the one that is struggling the most. Per Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report:
The Knicks will likely be patient before making any drastic moves since they are adjusting to the triangle offense under head coach Derek Fisher, but Smith is under-performing as a scorer in the early going.
His lowest per-game scoring total in the last eight years was 12.3, and he even scored as many as 18.1 a night in 2012-13. However, Smith has scored more than 12 points in just one game this season, and he has not asserted himself as a reliable or consistent second scorer behind Carmelo Anthony.
The Knicks have a logjam at the shooting guard spot with Shumpert and Hardaway on the roster and the Indiana Pacers are rumored to have interest in Smith as the team direly needs some scoring with the absence of Paul George.
What do you think? Should J.R. Smith be shipped of by the Knicks? Will he be an ideal fit in Indiana?
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