Hamilton: Knicks need JR Smith, not Kenyon Martin

NEW YORK – If you’re a fan of the New York Knicks, there are only so many times that a moral victory will suffice. Coming into the 2011-2012 season, with a true center in Tyson Chandler and a dynamic frontcourt duo featuring two of the NBA’s most prolific scorers, the Knicks were supposed to be battling with the likes of the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls for supremacy in the Eastern Conference.

But after last night 105-102 loss to the Bulls, at 8-14, the Knicks instead find themselves battling the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks’ on court problems are well documented. They’ve been plagued by a lack of playmaking, bench depth, and health woes. They’ll try to overcome that tonight when they play the Celtics in Boston.

This much we can surmise: If the Knicks hit 3-pointers, they can play with anyone.

But anyone who has been watching notices their lack of a consistent perimeter threat. Carmelo Anthony needs someone who can make defenses pay for clogging the lane. Amar’e Stoudemire needs a guard who will make his defender pay if the defender tries to cheat under picks.

So that’s why Knicks fans should be somewhat happy that—at this moment—Kenyon Martin is rumored to be waxing his surfboard. The latest gossip going around says that he’s likely to end up in either Los Angeles (both the Clippers and Lakers are said to have interest), or Miami.

The Hawks and Spurs also expressed interest, and a decision is expected to be made shortly.

From what I’m told, though, the Knicks management is not very interested in Martin. The guy they really want is J.R. Smith.

Clearly, going after Smith is the right decision.

After last night’s loss, the good news is that Amar’e Stoudemire posted a season-high 34 points on 16-27 shooting. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and looked more like the Stat that New Yorkers met last season.

The bad news is that now—after 22 games—the Knicks are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. They trail the ninth seed Cleveland Cavaliers by one game and the eighth Milwaukee Bucks by 2.5 games.

If the playoffs began today, they’d be outside looking in.

Fortunately, though, they have only played one-third of the season. Baron Davis will help when he’s able to play, but make no mistake, Smith is what the Knicks really need to rescue their season.

The Knicks play for a coach who encourages his players to take the first, best shot they think they can make. The result is a system which routinely sees the likes of Jared Jeffries (.342), Iman Shumpert (.375), and Bill Walker (.433) jacking 20-footers.

None of the aforementioned three are renowned for their perimeter prowess.

Even worse? The four guards getting the lion’s share of minutes and 3-point looks—Shumpert, Walker, Landry Fields, and Toney Douglas—have shot a combined 280 3-pointers this season. They’ve made 83 of them, and that’s good for 29.6 percent.

Kenyon Martin is a good player that brings toughness, rebounding, post defense, and a decent touch from the perimeter.

That’s sounds a bit like Josh Harrellson, doesn’t it?

On the other hand, J.R. Smith just led his Chinese team—the Zhejiang Golden Bulls—to a victory while hitting 14 3- pointers and scoring 60 points.

The Knicks have lacked a perimeter player even remotely capable of accomplishing such a feat. He’s clearly what they need.

In the words of Mike D’Antoni, the Knicks have a lot of shooters, but not nearly enough makers.

They especially need some since the entire roster is devoid of a single player who is capable of providing a post up threat. Although Anthony can score down on the block, he is much more comfortable holding and pounding the rock out on the perimeter, facing up his man, and taking him to the rack.

Yes, Chandler has had a few moments when he’s provided a bucket or two from the post, but everyone knows his bread and butter are alley oops off of pick and rolls and stick backs off of a teammate’s brick. Every single one of his points this season has come from the paint or the foul line. Every single one!

Stoudemire, although he appears bigger and stronger than ever, has seemed to be missing a step and has been has never had much of a post game.

The end result is that the Knicks are a team that rely on perimeter shooting—but thus far—have been pretty bad at perimeter shooting.

As a team, they’re shooting a combined 42.5 percent from the field. That’s good enough to be ranked 24^th in the league. Yet, they’re taking the 3^rd most threes in the league at 23.2 per game.

Of those 23.2, they’re converting on 31.3 percent. That’s 23^rd best in the league.

So if you’re keeping score, that basically means that despite being one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, the Knicks take more than anyone else in the league.

So, if you want to blame Coach D’Antoni for the Knicks disappointing season thus far, feel free. After all, it’s his system. He encourages the 3-point looks.

But he’s the coach. If the Knicks are going to play his way, then the Knicks need to go after a guy who can play his way.

SheridanHoops.com colleague Adam Zagoria, writing for ZagsBlog.com, caught up with Smith’s father who seemed to suggest that $2.5 million wouldn’t be enough to employ the services of his son.

While that stance isn’t surprising, I’ll say this: Smith is represented by CAA and I doubt that the Knicks would be putting all of their eggs in the Smith basket if they didn’t feel they had a legitimate chance of securing him. He’s a local kid from Newark and has an obvious connection with both Anthony and Mark Warkentein.

Even better, he will have a sure opportunity to come to New York, get minutes, and showcase his talents in an attempt to secure a long-term, lucrative deal this summer. So yes, Smith might end up being a rental, but at this point, the Knicks will take whatever they can get.

The competition for Smith will be fierce and he may not end up in New York. But right now, the Knicks have recognized their obvious need in the backcourt. They’re going after him and that’s a wise decision.

Without a floor general, the team is probably doomed—with or without Smith. But with Smith and a healthy Baron Davis, or another point guard that can create plays off the dribble, the Knicks could find themselves primed for a playoff run and peaking at the right time.

Only time will tell.

And fortunately, we’ve only played one-third of the season. There’s still time to turn things around.

Moke Hamilton covers the New York Knicks for SheridanHoops.com and is the lead NBA Writer for CHARGED.fm. For the latest on the New York Knicks and all things NBA, follow him on Twitter.