J. R. Smith may be close to signing with the Knicks, although some unspecified hurdles remain, according to people involved in the decision.

Smith can sign with an N.B.A. team after playing the last several months in China. He has been weighing offers and reportedly has narrowed his choices to the Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers. Although there were reports Thursday that Smith had chosen the Knicks, he had not yet informed other teams of a decision.

Smith is a solid 3-point shooter who would provide depth at guard and small forward. But he is also known as a ball-stopper and a volatile personality who could erode the Knicks’ newfound chemistry. There is disagreement among team officials on whether he is worth the risk.

The Knicks would sign Smith using a $2.5 million salary-cap exception, prorated for the rest of the season. They would have to waive a player to make room. Bill Walker, who has been filling the role of backup swingman, seems the most likely candidate.

HOPE ON CABLE TV DEAL There is a sliver of hope that the impasse between Time Warner Cable and MSG Network might end soon — allowing those deprived of watching Jeremy Lin to finally grasp the worldwide Linsanity.

James L. Dolan, the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden, and Glenn A. Britt, the chairman of Time Warner Cable, met Monday for less than an hour, said two people briefed on the situation but not authorized to speak publicly. It is the only encouraging news to emerge during the 47-day blackout.

The Dolan-Britt meeting is likely to lead to their assigning their dealmakers to resume long-dormant talks in the coming days. That, in turn, could lead to an exchange of offers.

How soon that happens is anyone’s guess. A chasm divides them. So, it seems, does a lack of trust.

Much of what is known about past negotiations comes from Time Warner Cable: that it agreed on an MSG proposal to raise rates by 6.5 percent only to see MSG renege and demand a 53 percent hike.

“All the numbers I’ve heard aren’t true,” Mike Bair, the president of MSG Media, said Wednesday in an interview with Mike Francesa on WFAN Radio. Bair has never publicly divulged any figures and has insisted that MSG only wants Time Warner Cable to pay a subscriber fee comparable to its competitors.

At their level, they were not exchanging proposals to end the dispute that began on Jan. 1 and forced Time Warner Cable customers to find alternatives to see each new chapter in the Lin phenomenon. Not to be forgotten is the hunger that blackout-affected Rangers fans have to see their first-place team.

Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, said he had helped bring the sides together.

In a statement, Schneiderman’s spokesman, Danny Kanner, said, “In the past two weeks, we have facilitated constructive conversations with Time Warner Cable and MSG Networks and look forward to continuing to work with the parties toward a resolution of their dispute.”

Schneiderman has no statutory authority in the blackout. He can only encourage talks.

The last dispute between MSG and Time Warner lasted 63 days in 2005. Eliot Spitzer, then the state attorney general, at first monitored the impasse and then gradually got involved.

On the last day, the sides met in his office and made a deal. RICHARD SANDOMIR