Leave it to J.R. Smith to sum up the difference between Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.

The outspoken shooting guard is uniquely situated to comment on the contrasting leadership abilities of Anthony, his longtime teammate with the Knicks and Nuggets, and James, the alpha dog for his new Cavaliers club.

“[Anthony] is more of an ‘I’ll show you,’ as opposed to Bron is more of an ‘I’ll tell you, then I’ll show you,'” the mercurial Smith said, according to Bleacher Report, after scoring 20 points, including six 3-pointers, after the Cavaliers pasted the Bulls, 108-94, for their third consecutive win.

A slight to the Knicks’ $124 million man for being too hands-off? A famous free spirit feeling the overbearing hand of the King? Hard to say. But Smith’s game has perked up since Phil Jackson shipped him to Cleveland.

Since going 0-for-5 in his first game with the Cavaliers, Smith is averaging 17 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting — this after averaging 10.9 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting in 24 games for the Knicks before he was traded on Jan. 5.

Smith’s small-sample resurgence has made a fan of James, who reportedly was consulted before the Cavaliers decided to go ahead with the trade.

“The pieces fit perfectly,” James said of a pair of trades that also landed Knicks guard Iman Shumpert and Denver center Timofey Mozgov.