Chauncey Billups' road to recovery began Wednesday on an operating table in Vail, Colo., just about the same time free agent JR Smith was heading back to the US from China.
In the NBA, the wheels keep turning.
Billups is lost for the season after tearing his left Achilles tendon last week in Orlando, so the Clippers need to find help. It could be Smith, although based on recent reports and Smith's own tweets, the list of possible suitors is at least six teams deep.
On his Twitter profile, Smith lists the Clippers, Lakers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers as teams he might join now that his contract with a Chinese team has been fulfilled. Smith is expected to arrive in the US on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Smith, 26, has spoken with Lakers coach Mike Brown, although the Lakers can offer only a prorated portion of a veteran's minimum salary, less than $1 million. The Clippers are under the same restriction.
Meanwhile, the Clippers announced that Billups underwent successful surgery at the Steadman Clinic in Vail to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon and will remain in Colorado for about four weeks before returning to LA to begin rehabilitation. The surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Clanton.
Billips, 35, has said he does not intend to retire, but his injury left a sizable hole for the Clippers to fill. They need a shooting guard who can take some of the scoring weight off point guard Chris Paul, who said after Monday night's loss to the Dallas Mavericks that the Clippers' chances of signing Smith are "very high."
One reason Paul believes the Clippers have an inside track is that he and Smith were teammates for two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets and remain close friends. Billups and forward Kenyon Martin, who joined the Clips on their recent trip, played iwth Smith in Denver.
"Who knows JR better than me?" Paul said of Smith.
Although the Clippers can't offer the same kind of deal as the Knicks, who would be able to pay Smith a prorated portion of the $2.5 million mini-midlevel exception, they can still make a strong pitch: The Clippers' 17-9 record leads the Pacific Division and puts them third in the Western Conference with more than a third of the season gone. With Paul and forward Blake Griffin as their cornerstones, the Clippers believe they're strong contenders to reach the NBA Finals.
The 6-foot-6 Smith would give the Clippers the size they lacked at off guard when Paul and Billups paired in the backcourt. Smith averaged 12.3 points in almost 25 minutes last season with the Denver Nuggets and shot 39 percent from three-point distance. In seven NBA seasons, he has career averages of 12.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists and is a 43 percent shooter.
The Clippers haven't spoken publicly about their interest in Smith, but given the ability of Neil Olshey, their vice president of basketball operations, to make big moves so far, it's a virtual certainty they'll contact Smith as soon as possible after his plane touches down.
