When we heard that the Knicks had traded J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers on Monday night, we naturally assumed that the two players were probably thrilled about the idea of going to Cleveland. The Knicks aren't headed anywhere this season—and might not be headed anywhere for the next few seasons. So the opportunity to play alongside LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving seemed like it'd be a dream for J.R. and Shump.
But according to Carmelo Anthony—who spoke with New York Times reporter Andrew Keh a few hours ago (hey, wait a second, didn't the Times give up on the Knicks?!)—the two players weren't all that excited when they heard they'd been traded. They were actually "hurt" by it and needed consoling from Carmelo:
Carmelo then went on to say that he's got great relationships with both J.R. and Shump:
And he pointed out that he has a long history with J.R. that started about a decade ago:
Over the next year or two, we're going to guess that J.R. and Shump will grow to love playing with LeBron & Co., especially if they end up winning rings with him. But for now, it sounds like it's going to take some time for the now-former Knicks players to get used to playing with a new team.
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[via @andrewkeh]
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