Knicks Rumors: J.R. Smith Was Unhappy About Trade To Cleveland Cavaliers

New York Knicks Rumors: J.R. Smith was traded away from the Knicks last season in a deal to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he was not happy about what transpired.

New York Knicks rumors have been revolving around their coaching search, or lack thereof in recent days. But, the latest one has to do with a former player in J.R. Smith, who played with the Knicks for parts of four seasons and was unhappy when his tenure with the team ended.

Smith was sent with Iman Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers last season in a three-team trade that also included the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks were waiving the white flag on their season, which ended up being the worst in franchise history with only 17 victories. They moved Smith and Shumpert for little more than filler, as they just wanted to clear as much cap space as they could and try rebuilding during the summer.

Despite the struggles that the Knicks were experiencing, Smith was not happy to be traded to the Cavaliers, despite them being the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference led by LeBron James. Smith shared his feelings on the move with VICE Sports.

Here is an excerpt from the video when Smith details how the trade went down and his feelings about the move.

"“I was pissed, honestly. First of all, it’s not my fault we’re in this situation. We were in the locker room, we were about to play in Memphis. I just got off the phone warming up. The GM (Steve Mills) was on the phone, said, ‘Yeah, we just traded you to Cleveland.’ I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ I told (Iman) Shumpert, ‘We’re outta here.’ He was like, ‘What?’ We came off a 50-plus win year (in 2012-13), we were second in the East. We had an unbelievable team with unbelievable chemistry and then they break everything down to rebuild what?”"

Smith also called joining the Knicks was the greatest decision that he ever made, so he was clearly disappointing in how the tenure ended. Phil Jackson clearly did not think it was a smart move for the Knicks to keep Smith around, as he traded him and then was critical of him in follow up interviews.

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Jackson would say that Smith was “exhibiting some delinquent behavior” because he was late and missing some team meetings. Jackson also added that Derek Fisher had his concerns as well, saying that the negative energy he brought with him was contagious.

Smith would also add that the thing he would miss most was playing alongside Carmelo Anthony, whom he called his best friend. The two were teammates with the Denver Nuggets from 2005-2011 before the duo ended up with the Knicks during the 2011-12 season once Smith returned from China. “(Carmelo Anthony) is probably my all-time favorite person that I’ve been around consistently over the course of X-amount of years,” Smith said.

Despite how things ended in New York, Smith looked back on his time there very fondly. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award during the 2012-13 season when the Knicks won the Atlantic Division and 54 games. Smith averaged a career-high 18.1 points per game that season as he was a spark off the bench all season for the Knicks.

“Every person that’s in the NBA should experience playing in New York at least once in their career,” Smith said. “To play at the Mecca of basketball and the Garden every night, it’s probably the greatest decision I’ve ever made to go to New York.”

While Smith looks back highly on his time in New York, and was upset when he was traded last season, it is tough to imagine that he is very upset anymore. For as much as he loved the city and his teammates, the results in Cleveland have been pretty nice.

Next: New York Knicks 2015-16 Team Grades

Smith got to play in the NBA Finals last season with the Cavaliers and has helped put them in position to return once again this season. He is averaging 12.3 points and shooting 50.8 percent from the three-point line and 47.8 percent overall.