| 16 February 2012
Normally, I would oppose the idea of seeing J.R. Smith in purple and gold because of certain reasons most people are familiar with, but these are extraordinary times for the Lakers.
Three-point shooting has never been this poor for this team. They're currently the 4th worse 3-point shooting team in the NBA averaging 29.8% per game. The Lakers brought in a couple of guys who can shoot the long ball, but Jason Kapono is shooting at 33% while Troy Murphy is too inconsistent and often would pass up an open shot from behind the arc despite his 42.9% season average.
Last season with Denver, Smith averaged 39% from distance and 12.3 points in nearly 24 minutes an outing. In the playoffs, he was even better leading the entire league in 3-point percentage (42.9%) and in 3-point attempts (21).
Smith is weighing his options and has narrowed his list to Chicago, Orlando, New York, Clippers, and Lakers. However, getting Smith won't be easy for the Lakers and would require some nifty selling by Mitch Kupchak and Kobe Bryant. Because they're over the salary cap and have already spent their mini-mid-level exemption on Josh McRoberts, the Lakers can only offer Smith the pro-rated portion of the veterans' minimum of less than $1 million. Chump change compared to the $6.8 million he earned last season with the Nuggets.
Mike Brown talked with Smith on Wednesday regarding what kind of role he'll have with the Lakers. Out of all the teams in J.R.'s list, the Lakers have more incentive in store for him but only IF he doesn't go for the most pay.
Kobe has no definitive backup, but there's also a possibility that Smith could start if Brown is willing to move Bryant at the 3. If not, Smith would definitely become the 6th man and would potentially have plenty of playing time since he could also fill the small forward position.
Having a big role to fill will be more attractive to Smith than money since he'll get his usual salary starting next season no matter who he signs with. Not only will he command the role he's looking for with the Lakers, there are no other team out there with the history of winning championships like the Lakers.
There's also the possibility that Smith could elect to play for a team where he's had former teammates or close friends. The Knicks obviously have former Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony, and the Clippers have Chris Paul, Smith's backcourt mate when both players were with the Hornets.
The Lakers could also decide to wait after the All-Star weekend to make their moves, including trying to acquire Dwight Howard and trading for Ramon Sessions just to name two. If they do, they'll certainly take themselves out of the running for Smith. The problem there is they'll allow J.R. to strengthen a competitor's roster for no good reason since it won't cost them much to have him now until whatever they do in the playoffs.
But by holding off on signing Gilbert Arenas after working him out privately last Monday, there's a chance that the Lakers are looking into signing Smith. With Andrew Goudelock and Steve Blake, the Lakers could afford to wait to find themselves help at the point. But they won't have another chance at acquiring a young, athletic scorer like Smith and at this price.
We'll see what the Lakers front office does the next 2 days.
