• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

J.R. Smith to opt-out, test free agency

J.R. Smith will opt-out of his $2.9 million player option, officially making him an unrestricted free agent. This news does not come as a surprise, as Smith was under payed for his performance this year (not including the playoffs) and will test the free agent waters.

Smith has told the media that he wants to ‘retire as a Knick’, but the better question would be, do the Knicks want Smith to retire with them? The Knicks can re-sign Smith for $4.9 million using the Early Bird exception, with standard raises over four years. Smith made major improvements this year under Coach Mike Woodson, averaging the best numbers of his career on his way to winning his first 6th man of the year award. Smith finished with 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds during the regular season.

Reports of Smith staying out late during the playoffs, partying with Rihanna should make the Knicks weary of giving him a long term deal. He let his team down with his playoff performance along with one of his closet friends Carmelo Anthony. League sources say that Smith is likely to re-sign with the Knicks, so only time will tell.

Justin Lerner: PureSportsNY

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.