LOS ANGELES: J.R. Smith has joined LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for their championship push.
The Lakers announced their long-anticipated signing of Smith as a substitute player Wednesday, the first day allowed under the rules of the NBA’s summer restart.
Smith is the Lakers’ roster replacement for Avery Bradley, who cited family reasons last week for his decision not to finish the season with his team in Orlando amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re not going to ask him to come in and be Avery Bradley,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s going to come in and be J.R. Smith. He’s going to just fill that position more than fill that role. Avery’s loss is obviously a huge loss for us, but we’re a next-man-up team. J.R. is going to come in and help fill that need, but we have a lot of guys in that position that can do the same.”
The 34-year-old Smith hasn’t played in the NBA since November 2018, but the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year is a longtime trusted teammate of James. During their four years together with the Cleveland Cavaliers, they won a title in 2016 and reached four consecutive NBA Finals.
“That was a factor, his familiarity with LeBron,” Vogel said. “The way we’ve built our team around LeBron, there’s a lot of similarities to the way they built their team in Cleveland. That definitely is a factor in what we feel like J.R. can bring to the table in what is going to be a very short time to get acclimated.”
Vogel also said the Lakers remain “hopeful and optimistic” that center Dwight Howard will be with the team in Orlando. Howard hasn’t made a final decision while contemplating the welfare of his 6-year-old son, whose mother died earlier this year.
“We don’t know what the level of participation is going to be yet,” Vogel said. “He wants to play. ... We don’t have any intention of replacing Dwight’s roster spot. When we leave (for Orlando next week), he’ll hopefully be able to join us.”
Bradley was a starter and a key role player in his first season with the Lakers, averaging 8.6 points per game with a dependable 3-point shot while playing solid wing defense. But the Western Conference-leading Lakers also excelled while Bradley missed 13 games due to injury, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso capably absorbing the extra minutes.
“We’ve got to fill his role, and it might not be with one person,” Caruso said. “This team has done a great job all year when guys have been out with stepping up and filling in. I’m not sure if I’m going to be the sole provider of everything that Avery did, but I’m definitely going to be ready to fill part of that gap.”
Smith is a 15-year NBA veteran, but he has been out of the league since the Cavaliers dropped him early in their first season after James’ move to Los Angeles.
Smith worked out for the Lakers in February before the club instead signed Dion Waiters, who didn’t get to suit up for his new team before the pandemic suspended the season.
“In terms of what (Smith) brings to the table, just the experience factor,” Vogel said. “This guy is a big-time player. He’s proven it over the course of his career. We know he can help us. We almost added him earlier in the year when we added Dion Waiters, and now we have the luxury of having both.”
Smith’s perimeter defense and 3-point shooting fit well into the Lakers’ scheme, even if he is likely to play only a supporting role in Orlando while the Lakers pursue their franchise’s 17th championship.
Smith is ninth in NBA history with 288 career playoff 3-pointers made while hitting 37% of his 3-point shots. He is fourth in league history in NBA Finals 3-pointers made.
“How quickly can we get (Smith) acclimated? I think there’s going to be plenty of time,” Vogel said. “We have a simple system that we hope can be picked up pretty quickly. Our guys picked it up pretty quickly to start this season, and we hope that it’s going to be the same for both Dion and for J.R.”
Lakers add veteran J.R. Smith for Orlando championship push
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Lakers add veteran J.R. Smith for Orlando championship push
- Smith hasn’t played in the NBA since November 2018, but the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year is a longtime trusted teammate of LeBron James
Real Madrid face Man City, PSG draw Chelsea in Champions League last 16
- This is the eighth season in which the teams have played each other since 2012
- Liverpool will have a last-16 rematch against Galatasaray
PARIS: Real Madrid and Manchester City will face off in a Champions League knockout tie for the fifth season running after being drawn Friday to play each other in the last 16, while reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain will take on Chelsea.
The Spanish giants, record 15-time European champions, will host City in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next month before traveling to England for the return the following week.
The clubs have already played each other this season, with Pep Guardiola’s City winning 2-1 in Madrid in December during the league phase, in which the Premier League club finished eighth and Real ninth.
That allowed City, Champions League winners in 2023, to advance straight to the last 16 while Madrid had to come through the knockout phase play-offs, in which they beat Benfica 3-1 on aggregate.
This is the eighth season in which the teams have played each other since 2012. Real beat City in the knockout phase play-offs last season, and in the quarterfinals on the way to winning the trophy in 2024. They also emerged victorious in the semifinals in 2022 with City winning at the same stage the following year.
PSG will be at home to Chelsea in the first leg after qualifying for this stage with a 5-4 aggregate win over Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the play-offs. Chelsea progressed straight to the last 16 after finishing sixth in the league phase.
The sides played each other in the knockout stages in three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, with Chelsea winning the first of those confrontations in the quarterfinals and PSG triumphing in the last 16 in the following two.
Their last encounter came in July’s Club World Cup final in the United States, when Chelsea won 3-0 against last season’s European champions.
“The draw is fascinating, as usual,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “It will be fascinating to play against one of the best English teams, who we know well, but it will not be about revenge. These are two different competitions.”
Chelsea have been coached since January by Liam Rosenior, who had previously come up against PSG in Ligue 1 as coach of Strasbourg.
- Arsenal face Leverkusen, Newcastle play Barcelona -
There is a record total of six English clubs in the last 16. None will play each other in the last 16 but there are two potential all-English quarterfinals.
Liverpool will have a last-16 rematch against Galatasaray, the Turkish giants having defeated the Anfield club 1-0 in September in the league phase.
The winner of that tie will play either PSG or Chelsea in the quarterfinals, meaning there is a chance Liverpool will get the opportunity to avenge their defeat by the Parisians on penalties a year ago.
Meanwhile, Newcastle United will take on Barcelona with the first leg at St. James’ Park — the Spanish side won 2-1 there during the league phase in September.
Barcelona’s only other possible opponents were holders PSG, but their coach Hansi Flick insisted: “We are not celebrating not getting PSG. We must respect our opponents. Everyone wants to reach the final and Newcastle will also be eager to win the Champions League.”
Tottenham Hotspur were drawn to play Atletico Madrid, with the winners of that tie then facing Newcastle or Barcelona in the last eight.
Arsenal, who finished first in the league phase, will come up against Bayer Leverkusen and if they win that would then be huge favorites in a quarter-final against Bodo/Glimt or Sporting of Portugal.
The last-16 meeting with Sporting is the Norwegian upstarts’ reward for knocking out last season’s beaten finalists Inter Milan in the play-offs.
Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes described Arsenal as “perhaps the top favorite for the title in both the Champions League and the Premier League. Everything has to go right, but then we’re capable of making life difficult for them.”
German champions Bayern Munich will play Atalanta, the sole Italian club left in the competition.
The first legs will take place on March 10 and 11, with the second legs a week later. The teams who qualified directly for this stage after finishing in the top eight in the league phase will all be at home in the return matches.
This season’s Champions League final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.
