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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It’s crazy, because his talent should have him RIGHT BEHIND KOBE AND WADE in the best 2′s in the game.
Not trying to flame at anyone, but if J.R. Smith played for the Spurs last year, would he have gotten off of the bench?
Would he have gotten off of the bench more than Roger Mason Jr. did?
Just a question.
He can COMPETE on defense when he wants to, but he actually lacks all defensive fundamentals and is basically out there getting by on physical talent. He only looks good because his physical talent is that impressive, so he can get by against marginal players without having the fundamentals. When he goes against true talents, he gets exposed quickly.
But, dude can ball. He can’t go left that well, but he’s a beast going right, ala Sprewell and Stackhouse. His jumper is dangerous every game, even when he seems off. He finishes well at the rim, and before the past few seasons he was a very good free throw shooter.
Dude just sucks at basketball IQ, and already appears to be losing some of his athletic ability, which doesn’t bode well for his career. I mean, he has the potential to be great, but I doubt he ever will be.
JR Smith is horrible at defense.
1. He rarely tries hard.
2. When he does try hard, he lacks the fundamentals and basketball IQ to really be great.
Good defenders do well against the best players. Contrast what Grant Hill did against Kobe to what JR Smith did. Grant forced Kobe to take many difficult shots, and generally was aware of his help and steered Kobe towards it. Sure, there were times when Grant got somewhat embarassed, and Kobe hit some great shots, but overall, for someone who is not known as a great defender, Grant did well.
Kobe destroyed JR Smith whenever the Nuggets even considered letting him guard Kobe to the point where Smith just looked confused and sad on the floor. This happened because JR Smith’s fundamentals are horrible.
As JOhn Wooden said “Never mistake activity for achievement.”
7.2 ppg 1.8rpg 1.5apg
JR Smith
12.5 ppg 2.6rpg 2.0apg Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.
Mason revealed he had hand surgery after the season to repair a torn tendon near his pinkie that affected his shooting last season. Mason said he played with the injury most of the season. “In D’Antoni’s system, you can’t have enough shooters,” Mason told The Post from the Knicks kids summer camp on the Upper East Side. “That’s my strength. I thought this was the best opportunity for me. I’ve been to the playoffs four straight years. I came here to be a solid defender and knock down some shots. That’s the role I can have. I’ll start or come off the bench, whatever it is.” Mason had an off year in 2009-10, falling out of the rotation in the playoffs. Mason had shot 41 percent from 3-point range in 2008-09 when he started for injured Manu Ginobili. “I tore the tendon in the middle of the year and tried to fight through it,” Mason said. “But the biggest thing was a healthy Manu Ginobili. The year before, I started the whole year. We won 54 games. We had a great year. I can’t argue. Manu was healthy. My situation changed.” WOW, THAT’S 42 PERCENT from 3 point land by Money Mase with a healthy hand whilst feeding off of a great low post presence (Duncan). I’m going to go out on a limb, in a New York state of mind and surmize Money Mase can do that with a healthy hand and feeding off of another great low post presence (Amar’e) in New York. BOOK IT!
Yeah, they’re good to watch but won’t get you a title.They grow up with that basketball mentality of I-am-the-best-motherf******er in this league: guess what….they never change!!!
So really we’re saying he could push for third team all-NBA?
yes and no.. yeah smith would be good along side durant but then again look at the chemisty okc has.. it wouldnt take long for smith to start screwin it up.. if he fixed his attitude he would be a great fit to this team tho
You’d be intrigued about some of the things some people think about Kobe Bryant and his shooting abilities.
Really intrigued.
I’m not going to name names, because I don’t want to flame.
There is at least one commenter up here who contends that Kobe Bean Bryant is a better shooter than Larry Joe Bird.
Now, do you believe that?
I love and respect SLAM to the fullest extent.
But, the commenter did in fact, utter those words.
Now, I still respect the commenter, for they generally bring reliable contributions and facts to most every basketball related discussion that I’ve seen them be apart of.
They will probably come up here and offer reasons for their line of thinking concerning that subject.
But…
very intriguing, no?
can’t recall JR. Smith being effective from mid-range. But JR. might have more range than Kobe.
selection, not his shooting mechanics/abilities
I think what the commenter said concerning that subject was the most craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
And, I told them that.
We debated for a while about that.
I’ll be honest, I was so intrigued by the notion, that I even found myself asking questions to them… like a student to a teacher.
It was amazing.
I couldn’t believe it.
It was like… a U.F.O., or something.
I really don’t want to throw them under the bus.
I am wholly confident that if their ego is as big as mine, they will present their argument to you, and to other newer SLAM alumni, for both of our egos (well mine, anyway) are considerable.
I’ll tell you the truth:
I respect everyone’s opinion up here at the end of the day. Some opinions to one or another may or may not be viewed as accurate, or satisfactory.
Their particular argument pertaining to the subject I thought, was entirely…
They’ll come up here and explain it.
It may be a little too scientific for me.
Seriously.
-Larry Bird shot an awesome percentage because the man could move without the ball awesomely and took far more reasonable shots he knew he could make, ie offensive efficiency. Neither of these do I consider part of shooting
-Larry Bird had his spots on the floor. He knew where he wanted to shoot and he got there because he was so amazingly intelligent and moved so well around screens and had such great change of speed. Kobe doesnt have spots on the floor. He shoots everywhere.
-If you take away those screens that Bird runs, and put two defenders on him, who are you more comfortable taking a contested shot? I’d say Kobe.
-Kobe takes many unreasonable and awful shots. People also double team Kobe far more often than Bird becuase they’re less afraid of Kobe finding an open teammate. That’s why his percentages are lower. I do not COUNT these factors when talking about pure shooting.
-I don’t think Kobe has as well rounded of a game as most legendary superstars. While he has ludicrous fundamentals, I question his bball IQ at times. I only think Kobe’s a fair passer so players are less afraid of double teaming me.
Kobe survives purely on the fact that his jumper is ludicrous. Insane.
-People act like Bird never had cold shooting nights. In reality, Bird scored a massive amount of points on smart drives, putbacks, and a highly skilled post game. Bird shot a GREAT percentage from three, and hes a much better three point shooter than Kobe, but he took far less threes than Kobe does in an average game. That’s because he takes smarter shots.
Okay, feel free to bash me now.
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.
That’s what I’ll give to Kobe.
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.
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.
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