When Game 6 of this past season’s Knicks-Pacers Eastern Conference Semifinal series was winding down and thus marking a bitter end to what had once been a promising season for New York, the same thought continued to repeat itself in my head: J.R. needs to go. J.R. needs to go. J.R. needs to go. J.R. needs to go.
I was, of course, thinking about J.R. Smith, the Knicks shooting guard and the NBA’s winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2012-13 season. I was thinking the organization needed to do everything in its power to make sure he never wore the Orange and Blue again.
As I painfully watched the Pacers ice the series with free throws in the final minute of that Game 6, everything Smith had done during the postseason was being replayed in my mind, from his elbowing of Jason Terry in Game 3 of the Celtics series and ensuing Game 4 suspension to his egregious 33 percent shooting from the field over the 11 total games that he played in.
It was like the final two months of the regular season never happened. For most of March and during the regular season portion of April, Smith played his most efficient basketball of the season. He was driving to the basket, getting to the free throw line and rarely settling for poorly-selected jumpers.
Then in the playoffs, it was back to the same old J.R. He took ill-advised shot after ill-advised shot, and with an average of 13.5 points per game on 15 shots per game and 29 percent shooting, he was easily the worst player on either team during the Indiana series.
Admittedly, I’ve never been a fan of Smith. He has as much athletic ability as just about anyone, but he often makes the wrong play and takes the worst shots imaginable at the worst times imaginable. He looks good, has plenty of game, and will put up convincing numbers, but his poor shot selection and overall decision-making has been impossible for a team to overcome in the long run. Sure, the Knicks won 54 games with Smith being an integral part of their system, but he was badly exposed during the playoffs, and it probably cost them a chance at meeting the Miami Heat in the conference finals.
At times, Smith gets in trouble off the court as well. Whether he’s posting inappropriate pictures on Twitter, beefing with Rihanna on Instagram, partying at night clubs on nights prior to games, or even engaging in an inappropriate conversation with a female fan on Twitter, Smith sometimes says or does something to shine a negative light on himself and his team.
Considering all of that, it wasn’t really surprising when he recently guaranteed the Knicks will win the championship in 2014. Smith told a group of kid golfers that he is “100 percent sure” the Knicks will win the NBA Finals this upcoming season.
The Knicks? Championship? Yeah, right after LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Deron Williams, Paul George, Derrick Rose, Tony Parker and Dwight Howard all simultaneously tear ACLs and miss the entirety of the season. That’s probably the best hope the Knicks have at winning a title.
It’s almost as if Smith had a bet that he could make a worse guarantee than Brandon Jennings‘ proclamation that his Milwaukee Bucks would defeat the eventual champion Miami Heat in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. The Bucks were swept in four games.
As a fan, I obviously hope his outrageous prediction somehow comes true, but in reality, the Knicks would be lucky to even get out of the first round this season.
The way I see it, they are going to finish no better than fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers and the Heat were both already better in 2013 and have only improved since the conclusion of last season. The Bulls will be getting 2011 league MVP Derrick Rose back, and the Nets acquired both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from the Celtics, two former champions who have all the motivation in the world to beat New York.
New York’s sad attempt at improvement in the offseason? Well, they did invest in Smith (who, by the way, will be coming off major knee surgery) for at least two more years, but they lost Chris Copeland to the Pacers and traded what felt like their last three draft picks until 2075 for Andrea Bargnani, whose ability to stretch the floor on offense will be cancelled out on the defensive side of the ball, where he is a complete liability.
New York’s one bright moment of the summer came when they signed Metta World Peace to a very reasonable contract. Metta will make the Knicks much tougher and a little better, but even he won’t exactly be a difference maker.
Keep reading to hear how Miami will react to this guarantee…
It just doesn’t add up to true championship contenders. Sure, if Iman Shumpert blossoms into the star that most expect him to be at some point, and if Amar’e Stoudemire can play between 60 and 80 games, and if Tyson Chandler returns to his 2011-12 form, then maybe–just maybe–the Knicks can make a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014. But that’s as far as they will go.
That’s because at the end of the day, this is still a team led primarily by Carmelo Anthony, more of a one-dimensional superstar who lacks the “it” factor and leadership abilities that the best player on championship teams must have. See LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade or Tim Duncan. When you don’t have one of those transcendent talents, you need a talented roster from top to bottom. New York’s doesn’t quite stack up.
So what provoked Smith’s guarantee? Well, here’s what I’ll say: I do believe him… meaning that I believe that he believes he is 100 percent sure the Knicks will win the championship, just like I believe that he believes he will make every shot he takes. The guy has more irrational confidence than any player I have ever seen. He could literally start a game 0-for-25 from the field and still think he’s going to hit that 26th shot attempt to win it. It’s just how he’s wired. And, to give him credit, he should think that the Knicks can and will win it all (and that irrational confidence can come in handy at times, as well). In fact, every player on a good team should have that same belief.
It’s not Smith’s belief that I have a problem with. It’s the fact that he guaranteed it would happen. That disappoints me. How does this help the Knicks? It doesn’t. It only puts an unwanted target on their back.
What do you think LeBron and Wade thought when they read the story? Neither of them will ever admit it, but they saw it, they took note of it, and they will remember it if their Miami Heat meet the Knicks in the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
Remember Wade’s reaction when Jennings made one of the stupidest guarantees in basketball history? That look from Dwyane just screamed, Well, we were going to beat you, but now we’re going to really beat you. If he had any reaction at all to J.R.’s boasting, then it was probably very similar. Obviously, Smith was only trying to express the confidence he has in himself and in his teammates, but in a way, his comments were also disrespectful to the Heat.
The Heat are the two-time defending champions. The Knicks aren’t. The Heat are the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. The Knicks aren’t. The Heat have the four-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP, LeBron James. The Knicks don’t.
On top of it all, Smith’s comments are only going to give more bulletin board material to not only the Heat, but also to the Nets, Bulls and Pacers. It just wasn’t an intelligent thing to do, and it will only be counterproductive in the Knicks’ efforts to have a more successful year than they did in 2012-13.
Memo to Smith: Let’s worry about being the best team in New York City before we even think about winning a championship.
Do the Knicks have any chance of winning a championship this season?
Follow Michael on Twitter at @michaelburke47.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
