Denver Nuggets free agent J.R. Smith signs for a Chinese team – NBA Update
Free agent J.R. Smith has inked a deal with Chinese basketball club in Zhejiang province. J.R. will represent the team known as the Golden Bulls for one year in China. The explosive guard played for the Denver Nuggets last season.
Smith had been with the Nuggets for a while and was a standout performer in last year’s playoffs for the side. Smith was one of the shining lights on the Nuggets roster after the departure of star forward Carmelo Anthony to the
New York Knicks but his contract ran out this summer.
Chinese Basketball Association has actually discouraged an inflow of NBA players to the Far East. They put in regulations barring players under an NBA contract to come over and play for a Chinese team. Contracts signed with a side
in China also cannot have an escape clause that allows players to return to the United States in case the NBA lockout ends.
This means Smith, and any other player that signs with a Chinese side, will be tied for the full duration of the contract, believed to be a year in the case of the former Nuggets man. His contract is also reportedly the most expensive
in CBA history at $3 million, though still not up to the average value in the NBA.
Smith’s agent Leon Rose explained that his client’s foremost priority has been to play competitive basketball. As the United States can no longer offer it currently due to the NBA lockout, he decided to try on a new experience
with his move to the Far East.
"J.R. really wants to play basketball this season," agent Leon Rose told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"His decision to accept the deal was based on the uncertainty of the NBA labour negotiations, a significant offer from the club and the unique opportunity to play the game he loves in another country that loves its basketball,"
Rose wrote in an email. "J.R. is looking forward to the challenge."
Smith, who stands 6-foot-6, averaged 12.3 points per game, 2.2 assists per game and 4.1 rebounds per game last season for the Nuggets. He will surely be a solid contributor for his Chinese side, which incidentally play in the same
province as the team one of Smith’s former teammates has signed for.
Wilson Chandler, who was a reserve for the Nuggets last season, also signed recently for a team in the Zhejiang province. Like Smith, Chandler was also a free agent and wanted to continue his development through competitive basketball,
thus he decided to try his hand at the CBA.
As contracted NBA players are barred from China, teams in the Far East are looking at the most high profile free agents currently on the market.
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