Source: J.R. Smith on Trading Block

Filed under: Nuggets

The news isn't surprising considering J.R. Smith has lost his biggest supporter with the Denver Nuggets.



A source close to the situation said the Nuggets are looking to trade the erratic Smith, who is entering the final year of a contract that will pay the shooting guard $6.03 million.



There have been trade rumors before about Smith since he joined the Nuggets in 2006, but they have lacked validity since Mark Warkentien, once Denver's vice president of basketball operations, was adamant about not trading Smith. But Warkentien's contract was not renewed earlier this month and Smith's biggest supporter was gone. It was Warkentien who acquired Smith in 2006 from Chicago for the low price of two second-round picks and the non-guaranteed contract of Howard Eisley, who was waived.



It might be a surprise if Smith is still with the Nuggets past the February trade deadline. The Nuggets might not want to risk losing him for nothing as a free agent next summer and he has yet to show enough in his time with Denver for team officials to believe he deserves a lucrative new contract.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/22/nuggets-looking-to-trade-j-r-smith/