Lakers News: Danny Green says J.R. Smith is in good shape

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly close to signing J.R. Smith. Even though he hasn’t played this season, Danny Green said he looks like he’s in good shape.

As we get ready for the NBA season to resume for the Los Angeles Lakers, the roster for them and other teams will look a tad different. Due to the coronavirus, some players will not be making the trip to Orlando with the rest of their teams.

One of those players is Avery Bradley of the Lakers. The loss of Bradley is a fairly significant one, as he was their starting point guard and a key piece of their defense. With Bradley out, the Lakers will have to fill his spot, and they reportedly have a guy close to signing.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers and J.R. Smith are close to a deal that would result in him joining the Lakers for the rest of the season. Smith is a well-known name in the NBA, as he has been a teammate of LeBron James before on successful Cavaliers teams.

Recently, Danny Green spoke about what type of condition Smith is in. Here’s what he had to say on his podcast with text via Silver Screen and Roll.

"“He looks good. When I have seen it, he’s shot the ball well. He looks (to be) in pretty good shape. So we’ll see where it goes. I don’t make those decisions, it’s above my head, above my pay grade, but the times that I have seen him work out, and the times I’ve seen him in the gym, he looked like he was in good shape. He looked pretty crisp. So we’ll see what our roster looks like, man."

Despite still being a good player, Smith hasn’t played in the NBA yet this season. However, he looks like he will be ready to go, as the Lakers surely saw what he could do before they became this close to signing him.

Smith brings some things that can help Lakers in the playoffs, as he has a lot of playoff experience, can shoot 3-pointers, and has been a good defender in his career.

Since he hasn’t played this season, it is hard to know exactly what Smith will be. However, we will have to trust the Lakers likely what they see and Smith will be able to contribute.