JR Smith to Cavaliers: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction: The New York Knicks are reportedly shipping J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yahoo Sports Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news on Monday night: The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement in principle to acquire New York Knicksguards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in a multi-team trade that also sends guard Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Several less prominent players, including the Cavaliers Alex Kirk and Lou Amundson and the Thunders Lance Thomas, could be included in the deal. The Knicks are expected to be come out of the deal with a future draft pick, sources said. Wojnarowski later clarified what round the pick would be for the Knicks: Smith has played 24 games for the 2014-15 Knicks, averaging 10.9 points, 3.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 25.8 minutes of action per night. Smith, 29, was an integral part of New Yorks surge to the No. 2 seed in 2012-13, as the score-first guard looked more engaged than ever en route to winning the NBAs Sixth Man of the Year Award. While Smith floundered in the postseason, the Knicks rewarded him with a new three-year, $17.95 million deal. From there, everything slowly devolved into a nightmare. After signing the new deal, Smith revealed that he put off a needed knee surgery until his contract got signed and was suspended five games for a violation of the NBAs substance abuse policy. When Smith returned to the floor, it quickly became apparent he wasnt nearly the same player—or frankly even willing to try to be. Smith saw his points, rebounds and shooting percentage drop while also returning to the antics that make him one of the leagues most polarizing figures. After the Knicks released Chris Smith, J.R.s brother whom the team inexplicably signed to a guaranteed contract, J.R. sent out an Instagram photo that indicated he felt betrayed by the situation. The NBA fined the Knicks guard $50,000 for repeated unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically citing two times where he either attempted to or successfully untied an opponents shoe. Im not happy about this because he was warned, he comes back, and he makes the same mistake, and its not right, then-head coach Mike Woodson told reporters. Its just got to stop. I keep saying this every time something pops up, but its got to stop. None of the motivational ploys worked. Two wins away from an Eastern Conference Finals berth two seasons ago, New York failed to make the playoffs and finished with a 37-45 record last season. Woodson was fired, Phil Jackson was brought in as team president and a full-scale flushing of the previous core commenced. Smiths onerous contract made him a difficult sell, but Jackson seemed dead set on changing the locker-room culture. “We want to close that circle and really make it really pretty tight, so that we can start to get that familial attitude that brings bonds together, that makes players kind of play for each other,” Jackson said in March. Although it seemed like a long shot that any team would want Smiths seemingly toxic combination of ineffectiveness and lackadaisical attitude, Cleveland is once again banking on his talent winning out. When Smith is locked in, he is still one of the leagues most talented scorers. Having a weapon like him coming off the bench, assuming a change of scenery helps, should be a boon. Again, in theory. Trading for Smith is obviously a risk Cleveland thought it had to take, but the Knicks would tell you firsthand that buyer beware. Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter: Read more NBA news on BleacherReport #NBA #JRSmith #BreakingNews #fantasybasketball
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:27:18 +0000
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