The NBA free agency began Sunday night at midnight, thus the start of the J.R. Smith sweepstakes between the New York Knicks and the various suitors looking to ink the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.
The 27-year-old shooting guard averaged 18.1 points per game this season, finishing second on the Knicks in scoring behind forward Carmelo Anthony.
Earlier in the offseason Smith announced his decision to opt out of his $2.9 million contract in order to test free agency. However, due to their lack of salary cap room, the Knicks are only able to offer him this season is an Early Bird Exception which starts at $5.58 per year.
The biggest competition to the Knicks, among various suitors that include the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, are currently the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit has plenty of room to make moves for Smith as none of their unrestricted free agents-Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, Corey Maggette or Jason Maxiell-are players that they'll look to re-sign. If they really want to make a move on Smith they have enough change in their pockets in order to offer him a deal worth $28.8 million.
As Smith remains a top priority for the Knicks, the franchise is also attempting to finalize a deal today with the Toronto Raptors in order to bring big man Andrea Bargnani aboard. The Knicks would be willing to trade Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, a future first-round pick and next year's second-rounder.
Though he's failed to live up to his potential as a No.1 overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Knicks conceivably can start Bargnani at power forward and move Carmelo Anthony back to small forward, but they would prefer to start Anthony at the four.
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