J.R. Smith tweets that he'll no longer be a bench player

Either J.R. Smith has had a conversation with new head coach Derek Fisher that nobody else was privy to, or he simply has high hopes for how the new bench boss plans to use him.

On Tuesday, Smith responded to a fan on Twitter who suggested Smith would win his second Sixth Man of the Year award in 2014-15 by saying that it wouldn't be possible, because he won't be coming off the bench.

Smith won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2012-13, averaging 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 80 games off the bench for the Knicks. He started in 37 of his 74 appearances in 2013-14 but saw his numbers slide to 14.5 points, four rebounds and three assists in roughly the same playing time.

Earlier in his career, Smith was a sometimes-starter but has come off of the bench in 525 of his 692 career games (75.9 percent). He's generally been more effective as a reserve, a situation that allows him to exploit lesser defenders and shoot more freely without taking touches from starters.

The Knicks' roster for next season has some question marks, with the starting two-spot among them, but it seems a little premature for Smith to assume his time off the bench is finished.