12:39pm: The Cavaliers have officially confirmed that Smith will no longer be with the team as the club and Smith’s reps work to resolve his situation. Within their press release, the Cavs thanked Smith for his contributions to the franchise, including his role in the 2016 championship.
12:21pm: Veteran guard J.R. Smith will no longer be actively with the Cavaliers, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic (Twitter links), who reports that Smith will work out on his own going forward. Smith’s camp and the Cavs are working together to find a trade, Vardon says, adding that a buyout is not a consideration at this point. Vardon describes the breakup as “amicable.”
The Cavaliers reportedly gave Smith the opportunity to take time away from the club earlier in the season, but he turned down the offer at the time — it seems he has reconsidered it now. This development doesn’t come as a huge surprise after Smith made comments suggesting that the Cavs weren’t trying to win, and that he didn’t want to be part of a team if its goal wasn’t “to compete, to win.”
Smith had been a regular part of Cleveland’s rotation over the last couple weeks, but played just six minutes in Monday’s loss to the Pistons. It appears those will be his last minutes for the team for a while – perhaps ever – as he’ll be pulled from the rotation for the third time this season. The Cavaliers have been somewhat indecisive so far in 2018/19 about whether to play their veterans or focus on developing their young prospects, but they appear to be moving more and more toward the latter path.
While Smith is very much on the market, it won’t be easy for the Cavs to find a trade partner. The 33-year-old is off to a very poor start to the season, with just 6.7 PPG on .342/.308/.800 shooting in 11 games (20.2 MPG). He’s also earning a $14.72MM salary in 2018/19.
On the plus side, while Smith remains under contract for one more year beyond this season, his 2019/20 salary, worth $15.68MM, is only partially guaranteed for $3.87MM, so it’d be relatively inexpensive to cut him loose at season’s end.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
If he’d remove the future guarantee he’d be traded instantly.
Poor henny, cleveland treating my mans like trash lol. Acting like that one finals game really would have made a difference lmao
Yeah it has nothing to do with his 7 points per or his 34% shooting in 20 minutes a game. Yeah it has all to do with that one game. What a foolish comment
To be fair, JR is the type of player that needs time to heat up and get in a rhythm, so taking him out of the rotation isn’t going to help things. But with that being said, he’s not a fit for the Cavs anymore, and they aren’t a fit for him either so it’s time for both sides to move on.
I thought he should have been the starter at the 2 this year for them. I agree that they’re tanking. Haven’t seen legit rotations once all season. David Nwaba finally playing. Their defense improved with their offseason moves, yet they’ve been terrible in reality on the floor, partly b/c of those rotations. To be honest, they benefit more from finishing bottom 3 than anything, as I suggested last year before LeBron left. Him leaving almost works out better for them. Now they can end up with a potential franchise guy for the next 7+ years, if they end up with Barrett, Zion, Nassir Little, or Reddish.
He can be a potential floor spacer for a couple of teams
Mentally he hasn’t been with the Cavs for awhile
If he didn’t suck, he’d be traded by now.
Man I still remember those back to back 3’s JR hit in the 3rd quarter of Game 7 2016 in Oracle, I was stoked.
He could snatch victories from defeat. He worked with Lebron & went on runs when it wasn’t working with Lebron.
IMO the Cavs (or Lebron) tried to make him a stopper when he signed that big 2016 contract. There was a slow learning curve because he had no anticipation in his game– he was all in for the present moment.
Frustrations with his new role slowed him down. This is not the official line.
He needs to thank BRON BRON for the last contract.
So do Tristan Thompson, Shumpert, et al
Larry Drew must be singing praises about now. Does J.R. think he’s another Jimmy Butler?