Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

The New York Knicks appear as the leaders to acquire free agent J.R. Smith when he can sign a new NBA contract on Wednesday (Feb. 15). This may seem like an odd move by the Knicks, especially with the emergence of point guard Jeremy Lin, but apparently the thought is that a team can never have too many assets off the bench.

A new report from ESPN has the Los Angeles Clippers scrambling to convince Smith to sign with the franchise, especially because the franchise can guarantee more minutes and a bigger role. It’s possible that the Clippers could even offer Smith a starting role on the team in the place of the injured Chauncey Billups. The team recently signed free agent Kenyon Martin to come off the bench as a power forward and maybe that too will convince Smith that Los Angeles is the best place to sign.

The advantage that the Knicks have here is that the team can offer Smith the most money in a deal and that the offer is reportedly worth $2.5 million for the 2011-12 season. This is where a debate about that “role” really comes into play though, because maybe Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has big plans for Smith. It’s possible that Smith could become the first player off the bench in New York, giving him a lot of minutes with the second unit and possibly making for some real excitement for the fans to watch.

It seems like the Knicks could use the best possible version of Smith, but there is a question about whether he has matured enough to bring into the fold. He has been called a head-case many times before and the last thing that the Knicks need is another situation like the one betweenNate Robinson and D’Antoni or Stephon Marbury and D’Antoni. Smith definitely has the talent to become a big-time scorer in New York and what he offers in the transition game could become an asset to Lin.

It seems like a risk to pursue Smith before the team even knows how well Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Lin will mesh on the court together, but at this point it seems like the team needs to do something in order to help with the depth of the roster. Lin can’t do it all by himself and the injury prone superstars on this team could break down at any time. At this point, it certainly can’t hurt to sign Smith for a one-year deal.

WRITTEN BY  Ryan Christopher DeVault, Yahoo! Contributor Network & FULL STORY HERE