After close to two full seasons of inactivity, free-agent guard J.R. Smith might soon be getting his chance to return to the NBA. The latest rumors suggest he could replace Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley when the league resumes play next month.
As reported early Wednesday morning by ESPN ‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, Lakers president of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, and Smith’s agent, Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul, discussed on Tuesday night the possibility of the former Sixth Man of the Year winner signing with the team as a replacement for Bradley. An agreement has yet to be finalized, but both men were reportedly expected to hold further conversations on the matter Wednesday.
Although rumors of Smith joining the Lakers as a free agent are nothing new, the organization is currently searching for someone to fill in for Bradley, who cited family reasons when opting out of the NBA’s season restart on Tuesday night. Prior to making this decision, the combo guard was among the players who were most vocal about possibly sitting out the resumption of the 2019-20 season due to social justice concerns raised by the death of George Floyd.
As further noted by Wojnarowski, it’s possible that the Lakers could waive Bradley in order to make room for Smith, who last played in the NBA in November 2018 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 34-year-old had previously worked out for the Lakers in February in hopes of getting a roster spot, though the team ultimately decided to sign another veteran free-agent shooting guard in Dion Waiters.
JR Smith is the leading candidate to join the Lakers after Avery Bradley opted out, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/O24IGb39X1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2020
In addition to his stint with the Cavs, Smith had previously seen action for the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks in a 15-season career that started when he was drafted out of high school in 2004. Per Basketball-Reference , he has career averages of 12.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, with shooting percentages of 41.9 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Even if Smith ends up signing with the Lakers as Bradley’s replacement, it doesn’t appear likely that he’ll get a lot of playing time. Wojnarowski wrote that incumbent backcourt players such as Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will likely “ease much of the burden,” with Rajon Rondo also expected to ramp up his contributions. Waiters — who has yet to play a game for the Lakers due to the NBA’s decision in March to pause operations amid the coronavirus pandemic — was mentioned as yet another potential source of backcourt depth.
Per the NBA’s rules for the upcoming season restart, teams have until July 1 to sign free agents as replacements for players who chose to sit out the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
