Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  108 responses

J.R. Smith Being Shopped?

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Carmelo Anthony has dominated the rumor mill out of Denver this summer, but it may be another potent wing scorer on the Nuggets who ends up making actual news.

According to FanHouse, the new folks in charge of managing the team in the Mile High City are seriously considering trading J.R. Smith, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer:

A source close to the situation said the Nuggets are looking to trade the erratic Smith, who is entering the final year of a contract that will pay the shooting guard $6.03 million.

There have been trade rumors before about Smith since he joined the Nuggets in 2006, but they have lacked validity since Mark Warkentien, once Denver’s vice president of basketball operations, was adamant about not trading Smith. But Warkentien’s contract was not renewed earlier this month and Smith’s biggest supporter was gone. It was Warkentien who acquired Smith in 2006 from Chicago for the low price of two second-round picks and the non-guaranteed contract of Howard Eisley, who was waived.

It might be a surprise if Smith is still with the Nuggets past the February trade deadline.

Despite his obvious talents, Smith’s career in Denver to date has been volatile, to say the least.

Assuming things don’t change on his end a whole lot by next season’s trade deadline, it might make plenty of sense for both he and the Nuggets to part ways.

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  • The Philosopher

    There was a good debate about Dennis Rodman not long ago at all.
    Jukai, think of this, and, I even think you posed this same type of question, yourself.
    I could be wrong:
    Now, if Larry Bird were to concentrate on shooting and scoring the ball as much as Kobe does, would Bird still be a worse shooter at LEAST statistically, in your eyes, than Kobe Bryant?
    I’ll give Kobe this -
    If Kobe Bryant had Larry Bird’s approach to the game, in my opinion, he would STILL be a lesser shooter than Larry Bird.

  • The Philosopher

    But his overall numbers would be a little higher, and his on court production would be a little greater.
    That’s what I’ll give to Kobe.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Cub Buenning

    Actually, this JR trade talk has been going on (behind any Melo chatter) all summer here in Denver, so this is not really new “news.”

    Two years from now it might just be Ty and a bunch of new faces running around Pepsi Center.

    Personally, I’m done waiting for Earl to be productive on a consistent basis. I like the dude and get hyped when he goes off, but i’m sick of waiting.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Actually, JR’s free throws have gotten worse since he came into the league. Last year was the worst percentage of his career.
    I stand by my assessment of his athletic ability. When dude first came into the league, he was unreal as far as hops and quickness. I don’t know if he’s put in the work to maintain that, and I see a slight dropoff. But, it doens’t make a huge difference because he could lose some hops and still outjump most of hte league.
    Potential is wonderful, but Darko had potential too.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Jr Smith is basically one year younger than Lebron. Two years younger than Melo and Bosh.
    He ain’t “young.” He ain’t “developing.” He is what he is.
    He’s Jamal Crawford with less handle, more hops and a slightly lower basketball IQ.
    There will be no more development. He’ll just get older. I’m quite certain about this. If you’re going into your seventh year in the League and you do the same stuff you did your rookie year, then that’s it. It’s over for you as far as development.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Actually, my bad. He shot worse free throws his rookie year, then improved, and now he’s regressed.

  • Pingback: SLAM ONLINE | » Report: J.R. Smith Choked Someone During Pickup Game

  • Pingback: Source: JR Smith on Trading Block – FanHouse | Snafu Blog

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