Report: Knicks are exploring J.R. Smith trade options

Three years, $18 million, guaranteed money.

A 34.8 percent field goal percentage.

Issue after issue after issue off the court.

Sound attractive to you? Well, it probably doesn't sound attractive to NBA teams, either. However, as difficult as it might be to find a fit or a team willing to take him on, the New York Knicks are reportedly exploring trade options for controversial shooting guard J.R. Smith.

According to the report, "the organization has become increasingly frustrated with Smith's on and off-court transgressions and increasingly feel that a fresh start might be best for all parties."

Earlier Wednesday, coach Mike Woodson expressed displeasure with Smith and his recent shoelace incident (linked above), saying, "It's just got to stop. I keep saying this every time something pops up, but it's got to stop," words that seem to stretch beyond shoelaces.

It appears Smith is aware, or has curious timing with his motivational tweets (this came three minutes before the ESPN report):

[Dap: Jared Dubin for pointing that out.]

And then this, shortly after:

While it's tough to see at present, there are a few reasons a team may roll the dice on Smith. For one, the contract isn't exorbitant. 

More importantly, he can score. Despite the horrible shooting percentage this year, Smith won the Sixth Man of the Year award last season averaging 18.1 points. While he hasn't had even a league-average true shooting percentage since 2008-09, teams have been shown to value "scoring" ability, even if said ability is really just "lacking a conscience and firing up a ton of shots."

The "fresh start" narrative probably doesn't hold in the case of Smith, who at age 28 appears incapable or unwilling to mature. He's also playing really poorly.

An additional report from CBS Sports quotes one executive as saying, "Good luck with that," and another as saying, "I hear Shanghai has a spot." Ouch.

Smith can not be traded until Jan. 15 based on language in the collective bargaining agreement. The Knicks will work the phones until then and beyond, and we wish them the best of luck - they have little they can add to a deal to make it more palatable, though they could theoretically take on an even worse contract.

Another report indicates that the market not being there might not matter, because the point is to send a message Smith: