Someone at Realgm said Woody Paige said it on Around the Horn. Said Smith had just purchased a house in Chicago and then briefly mentioned that the Bulls were interested in Howard.
I would be shocked if the Bulls brought on Smith unless it was a move that followed a Howard trade and the Bulls' depth was gutted.
He can't be signed until march or April, I think. He signed one of those contracts in china, right? Like him or not, signing him is the kind of move that contenders make when they're cap constrained. The case for signing him is that Rip misses a lot of games, Miami game showed we need something more to beat them, and it gives Thibs more situational flexibility.
You know, you're right. The case for signing Smith is that he's good at things no one else on the Bulls is good at. And the Bulls, as you mentioned, have reached a level of stability that they can handle some disruption. I think part of the reason I've come around on Smith is that I feel sorry for him. I don't think the media has done an adequate job of reporting on the fight his sister had with fans. Bayu, Smith's team's opponent at the fight, is the state's army's team. Apparently Mao loved basketball, and at the same time he banished all western sports, he set up a quasi-national team. Bayu, from everything I've read, is reviled in Chinese basketball circles because they were gifted championships and calls for decades because it was seen as unpatriotic to beat them. They're not just a crappy bottom wrung team that time has forgotten. Anyway, it seems to me that there's a weird old-world nationalistic thing going on with the franchise where they get their jollies from taking cheap shots at Americans. Bayu was also the team that got in that ugly brawl with Georgetown this past summer. I wouldn't be surprised if they were out to injure Smith, given the legacy at play. Smith's sister cold have had a very good reason for reacting like she did.
JR Smith is a huge idiot with low character, and it doesn't seem to be the type that's influenced with good surroundings. He's just a turd. We don't need him hardly at all. That said, if he's okay hibernating on the bench until the team needs a dose of irrational exuberance on offense, then sure, why not.
