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What do you guys have to say about him? Some Hawks fans think we should really go after this guy to replace Josh Childress. I know he can shoot that J outside the arc, but I hear his defense is suspect, and his attitude isn't the most respected in the league. Your thoughts?

if u give him a good coach (that's not george karl!), then he'll easily be a 20 ppg scorer.
hell, if AI left this team, then he'd probably be a 20 ppg scorer anyway.
his defense has improved in lengths and strides this season (it's 10x better than Anthony Carter). Obviously it's not all-defensive team level, but there are defintely worst defenders than him.

btw anything the Hawks offer, the Nuggets will match. I can't think of another player other than JR that would be a good fit with Melo.

eathy wrote:if u give him a good coach (that's not george karl!), then he'll easily be a 20 ppg scorer.
hell, if AI left this team, then he'd probably be a 20 ppg scorer anyway.
his defense has improved in lengths and strides this season (it's 10x better than Anthony Carter). Obviously it's not all-defensive team level, but there are defintely worst defenders than him.

btw anything the Hawks offer, the Nuggets will match. I can't think of another player other than JR that would be a good fit with Melo.

You have interesting points. It would definitely be up to who is willing to pay more cash, and I think Denver would win that 'battle' because the ASG just isn't showing their enthusiasm of paying money to players.

Thanks for the reply.

He does more than just hit the outside shot on the offensive end. He can finish at the rim with the best of them (meaning he can create his own shot), and he is an under-rated passer IMO. We played him at the point a little bit this past season and he held his own for the brief minutes he was there.

What exactly is he asking for then that the front office has not agreed to re-sign him?

JR Smith is one of the upcoming stars in the NBA. This guy can do everything I would want from a shooting guard; defend, shoot, attack the rim with athleticism and score. He was the 6th man of the year last season imo and has an incredibly bright NBA future. He's one of the most talented shooting guards in the NBA.

The whole poor attitude/headcase image hes received has been created by the media and George Karl, and isn't true at all. He is immature and makes dumb decisions(although his play the 2nd half of last season shows improvement) but is by no means a team cancer.

Right now, I'd say hes a legitimate 2nd option under the right system. He has the makings and athleticism to be a big star but it's gonna take some time.

He is Ricky Davis 5 years ago.

Jajwanda wrote:What exactly is he asking for then that the front office has not agreed to re-sign him?

the Nuggets FO have only offered him the qualifying offer of 3.14 million for 1 year.

im not surprised that they havn't offered him a multi-year deal at least.

eathy wrote:

Jajwanda wrote:What exactly is he asking for then that the front office has not agreed to re-sign him?

the Nuggets FO have only offered him the qualifying offer of 3.14 million for 1 year.

im not surprised that they havn't offered him a multi-year deal at least.

after outbidding themselves for nene, and having kiki outbid himself for kmart....i think they're just being patient on this one. don't want to outbid themselves again, but also don't want to lowball.

perhaps the best thing that could happen would be for another team to offer 4-5 million. if jr and his agent accept, then our FO just matches. if they reject it...then at least we know what he's not gonna take and can perhaps try to work something out starting at 6 or 7 million.

wait...

what's the difference between another team offering (and us matching), then us offering a contract?

Great player being poorly used.

As for attitude, he's young and dumb. He'll continue to make stupid mistakes. Keep him on a short leash, dont over pay him and you'll get your money's worth.

eathy wrote:wait...

what's the difference between another team offering (and us matching), then us offering a contract?

Another team suddenly deciding to join in the "race" and give him a bigger contract after we've offered him one.

wait...

what's the difference between another team offering (and us matching), then us offering a contract?

nuggets FO seeing market value vs. nuggets FO deciding market value.

I think there's a good chance some European team offering him $10 mil per season... seeing how he could be a big time star in their L... and if that happens, we're screwed.

rafy wrote:He is Ricky Davis 5 years ago.

thats the ricky from boston right? is that a good or bad thing.

SnakefromHell wrote:I think there's a good chance some European team offering him $10 mil per season... seeing how he could be a big time star in their L... and if that happens, we're screwed.

you think they grow money on trees in europe?
the euroleague still doesn't make even close to the money, the nba makes. A few european top-teams made some moves and got a FEW about average players to come over there, but it doesn't mean they're $hlttlng money now.
They'll just snatch one player or antother from teams because they dont have to pay lux tax for their offers and many nba teams cant or wont match their offers because they do have to pay it.
and the low dollar idoesnt help.
They still can't throw out $10M per year offers like nothing and probably won't be able to in the near future.

Which means he's right about the level Euro teams can afford to pay. Not even the dumber GM's in the NBA would give JR $10m, yet alone a Euro team. He's hoping for something around or just above the MLE level, no more than Childress. More talent but far less maturity = same price

The reasons he's not going to bolt for Europe are many
1) The European teams know he's probably still too immature to manage it, and his game TOTALLY doesn't suit European style ball,
2) European immigration wouldn't give him anything more than a tourist visa because of his past.
3) He wouldn't want to go anyhow.
......

I agree he could be the 2nd man on a team. Of course Ricky Davis was the man behind KG in Minnesota too, lol, so both comparisons are probably valid for now.

J

denver has become $$$ conscious. they are letting someone else dictate jr smith's market value. it's a smart business move by the organization.

jr smith tho, is only 22 and is on the verge of "getting it". he could be a very lethal big time scorer in this league as he matures. i'm not sure why no other team has signed him to an MLE offer sheet unless they know for a fact that denver would match. which means, denver is probably trying to get him for LESS than the MLE.