A short time ago, the New York Knicks had a lot of question marks. Now it appears they're building a juggernaut.

Shooting guard J.R. Smith tweeted Friday that he has decided to join Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and phenom Jeremy Lin in New York, a move the team officially announced Friday night.

"New York Knicks It Is!" he posted on his Twitter account.

Smith, who played last season with the Denver Nuggets, had listed the Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Magic, Bulls and Pacers as teams he was considering joining after a stint in China that started during the NBA lockout.

Smith was ineligible to return to the NBA from China until his team's season was finished there. The Knicks couldn't reach a deal with him until his return was cleared by FIBA, basketball's international governing body.

Contract terms were not available, but the Knicks were able to offer Smith a pro-rated share of their $2.5 million mini mid-level exception and a player option for a second year.

"We just felt that it was an opportunity to acquire a very good basketball player and to help us in a way that I think we're in need of," interim general manager Glen Grunwald said. "He's a talented offensive player, shoot the ball, he can get to the rim, he can run the floor, so we just felt it was the right fit for what sort of we'd be facing the rest of this year."

To clear a roster spot for Smith, the Knicks released seldom-used forward Renaldo Balkman.

On his Twitter account, Balkman tweeted: "New york was great love da big apple #imout."

This was Balkman's second stint with the Knicks. He was originally a first-round pick of New York in 2006 and was traded to the Nuggets in 2008. He came back in the deal for Anthony last season.

The Knicks expect Smith to report Saturday night, not in time for practice. Coach Mike D'Antoni said he wouldn't play Smith before he practiced with the team, so Smith is not expected to make his on-court debut Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks.

The New York Daily News had reported Thursday that the two sides were closing in on a deal. Smith's agent, Leon Rose, met with Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan after Wednesday's Knicks game, the newspaper reported.

The Clippers, meanwhile, could offer Smith only the veteran's minimum for the rest of this season.