MrSparkle wrote:dice wrote:Am2626 wrote:
Paxson just dumped JR Smith for nothing and then in the fall he comes back and drops 30 on them. He could have helped that Bulls team. If he really wanted to trade him at least try to get some value back.
NOBODY wanted j.r. smith. he was a #18 pick pick with an attitude problem who lost his starting job to rasual butler in new orleans and then fell out of the lineup entirely. getting 2 second rounders for a former #18 pick who was looking like he might wash out of the league was hardly a poor return. and you wanted us to keep him to play for SCOTT SKILES? i think not
What a ridiculous take.
only a person completely detached from the reality of that period of time would say that. what did i say that was wrong? that nobody wanted him? that he had an attitude problem? that he was a total bust in new orleans (despite no competition and starting alongside CHRIS PAUL)? that he was a bad fit on a young bulls team? j.r. smith had a red carpet laid out for him and took a dump on it. the '06-'07 bulls were not the '95-'96 bulls. they were a rising young team that did not have an established culture that would reasonably allow them to integrate a malcontent. hell, they couldn't even handle ben wallace. bringing j.r. smith into the fold would have been bat**** stupid
but sure, pax and skiles were idiots because they considered team chemistry and didn't want a guy that nobody else in the league wanted
Yet he ended up being a good player in DEN and helped CLE win a chip.
irrelevant. he helped cleveland win a title TEN YEARS later...in his first season as a full-time starter...by doing little more than score 12 points a game hitting wide open shots playing off of lebron james. and who did he have to keep him in his place in denver? allen iverson. kinda like the bulls had MJ to keep rodman in his place. who did the baby bulls have to keep j.r. smith's outsized ego in check? hinrich?
But I guess that exciting 07/08 Bulls season was far better than having a good player.
except that he wasn't a good player at the time. he showed little sign of BEING a good player. or WANTING to be a good player
retrospect is a real easy game to play
I’m not saying they should’ve coddled and treated JR, but atleast give the guy a chance. See if the “good culture” guys can help him, or if the bigger market change of scenery helps. Don’t dump him for air.
"air" was all that was offered. we ACQUIRED him as an air add-on in a tyson chandler salary dump. and new orleans had a good culture as well...with more opportunity
i'm not sure how a bigger market helps a young headcase. the distractions are just magnified. it was boring DENVER where he found a few years of success as a backup (behind such notable starters as anthony carter and steve blake). he then disappointed in big market NYC before rebounding in another boring smaller market
j.r. smith's best numbers season was 15/4/3 on solid but nothing special efficiency as a 6th man for denver
the people who pined for j.r. smith are by and large the same ones that wanted to get rid of the easily superior luol deng...and wanted to re-sign ben gordon for big $...and scoffed when jimmy butler got the nickname "jimmy buckets" from stacey king
the donald, always unpopular, did worse in EVERY state in 2020. and by a greater margin in red states! 50 independently-run elections, none of them rigged
