The New York Knicks just paid J.R. Smith to have knee surgery. Two of them, in fact.
Several media outlets reported Monday that Smith, the Sixth Man of the Year, underwent a pair of surgical procedures. According to Newsday, one surgery went to repair the patellar tendon, and the other was to fix torn meniscus.
Smith is expected to miss 12 to 16 weeks, which would push his recovery to a period between mid-October and mid-November.
The surgeries come just four days after the Knicks re-signed Smith to a four-year, $24.7 million contract, the maximum the team could give him under the "Early Bird" exception. The exception allows teams to offer players the average salary of an NBA player, plus a 7.5 percent annual raise.
The average salary of an NBA player currently is $5.5 million.
The Knicks announced Monday that "Smith's injuries were chronic and gradually worsened." ESPNNewYork.com reported that the team was aware of Smith's injuries when he re-signed. The team added free agent World Metta Peace earlier Monday, which now appears to be an insurance policy for Smith.
The 27-year-old Smith averaged career highs of 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 33 minutes per game last season for New York.
"Re-signing J.R. was one of our primary goals this offseason and we are thrilled to have him back," Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald said in a statement when the deal was done. "He made great strides this past season with his consistent play off the bench for us, and we look forward to his continued growth."
Smith, however, slumped during the postseason. During Game 3 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, Smith drew a one-game suspension for elbowing the Boston Celtics' Jason Terry.
In 11 postseason games, Smith averaged 14.8 points and shot just 33.1 percent from the floor, and just 27.3 percent from 3-point territory. Newsday reported that Smith averaged just 13.5 points per game after the suspension in the playoffs.
Newsday also speculated that injuries were the reason Smith struggled in the playoffs. The Knicks are gambling that Smith will return to his 2012 regular-season form after his recovery.
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