The Cavaliers officially announced their training camp roster today, and J.R. Smith‘s name wasn’t on it. A key piece of last year’s championship team, Smith remains unsigned as camp begins, but GM David Griffin said today that Cleveland has made the veteran guard an “aggressive” offer and hopes Smith rejoins the team soon, according to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter link). Griffin also called the club’s offer “incredibly competitive,” per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
While the details of the Cavs’ offer to Smith aren’t known, the unrestricted free agent has reportedly been seeking an offer in the $15MM-per-year range, with the Cavs preferring something in the neighborhood of $10-12MM. Assuming those reports are accurate, the team’s latest offer likely gets a little closer to Smith’s rumored asking price.
The Cavs announced a full 20-man roster earlier today, but they have since removed one player from that list, as Mo Williams decided to retire. Of course, if Smith and the Cavs reach an agreement, the team wouldn’t hesitate to part ways with one of its non-guaranteed camp invitees to make room, if necessary.
While the Cavs wait to see how Smith responds to their contract offer, the team took part in media day on Monday, and one veteran free agent who re-signed with the team this summer indicated that he still has a couple more seasons left in him. James Jones, who is entering his 14th NBA season, said today that he’d like to play 15 years, according to Amico (Twitter link).
Jones is currently on a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Cavs, so if he wants to play in 2017/18, he’d have to sign a new contract a year from now, with Cleveland or another club.