Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

After the Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs, in true New York fashion, fans took to their twitter accounts and let J.R Smith who had a bad game have it.  Smith reacted and threatened to not rejoin the team.  J.R. Smith later said  he was just joking.  One of the reported reasons J.R. is now leaning towards staying with the Knicks…money.

According to Jared Zwerling at ESPN:

J.R. Smith has a player option of $2.443 million for next season, which he can opt out of. The Knicks will know by July 1 if he’s going to do so. If he does, that means the team will still be above the cap ($3.157 million), and they won’t gain anything. That $2.443 million is not extra money that actually exists in order for the team to sign someone else.

Even if Smith opts out, the Knicks could re-sign him for a 20 percent raise based on his $2.382 million salary from this past season. That’s enabled by the Non-Bird Exception, which would put him at $3.097 million for 2012-13.  A source told ESPN New York that Smith’s father, Earl, is going to make a strong case for his son to stay in New York, but “it’s very clear that the money is the biggest factor with him.”

In fact, when Smith chose the Knicks over the Clippers in mid-February after coming back from China, a source said the Knicks’ higher offer ($2.443 million to the Clippers’ $1.4 million veteran’s minimum) was the deciding factor because he was financially broke. Therefore, Smith will likely opt out and ask for the 20 percent raise. At that point, the ball will be in the Knicks’ court to re-sign Smith, who’s already said publicly that he wants to return next season.