J.R. Smith Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: J.R. Smith, Carter-Williams, Pistons

October 19th, 2016 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The details on J.R. Smith‘s new deal with the Cavaliers are now available, and as Bobby Marks of The Vertical outlines, Smith’s salaries don’t descend annually, as some previous reports suggested. Smith will earn $41.28MM in the first three years of his new contract, with an opportunity to earn a $15.68MM salary in year four. Currently, that fourth year is guaranteed for just $3.87MM, bringing the total guarantee to $45.15MM. For the 2016/17 season, Smith will be on Cleveland’s books for $12.8MM, taking the team deep into luxury-tax territory.

Here’s more from around the Central division:

With Smith now locked up, the Cavaliers‘ next big free agent will be a player who signed a lucrative new multiyear deal this summer: LeBron James. As Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes, James will be eligible to opt out in 2018, while Smith, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love can’t reach the open market until at least 2019.
Michael Carter-Williams doesn’t know for sure why he’s been dealt twice in his young career, but he’s looking forward to playing for the Bulls, and hopes that playing behind veteran point guard Rajon Rondo will help him improve his game, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. “I’m looking to learn from Rondo,” Carter-Williams said. “He’s one of the best point guards in this league. This is something fresh and new and will give me a little push, a little jolt. I think it will be fun.”
Aaron McMann of MLive.com examines the fight for the Pistons‘ third point guard spot, which seems to be going down to the wire. As McMann notes, the battle between Lorenzo Brown and Ray McCallum is crucial, since the winner figures to open the season as the backup at the point, with Reggie Jackson sidelined.

Eastern Notes: Carter-Williams, Jack, Smith

October 18th, 2016 at 9:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Discussing the Bulls swap of Tony Snell for Michael Carter-Williams with the Bucks, Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said he likes what the former Rookie of the Year can bring to the team’s second unit, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com relays. “I think he’s a versatile basketball player,” Hoiberg said. “He’s shown he can get into the ball and defend full court. His numbers speak for itself on what he can do on the floor as a scorer, averaging over 14 and a half points for his career. Also a very good rebounder and passer with good vision, averaging six rebounds and six assists for his career. Just excited to get him, a long and athletic guard that can play multiple positions.”

“It’s tough because they become family,” said Taj Gibson regarding the loss of Snell, adding that said Snell was happy someone wanted him. “There have been a lot of ups and downs, been in a lot of hostile situations with them. So it’s always tough but it’s the business part of it. It never gets easy but you have to just wish them well knowing they’re going to a better situation to help their game and just keep pushing forward.”

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer confirmed that point guard Jarrett Jack, who is recovering from knee surgery, won’t be ready to take the court when the regular season begins, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays (via Twitter). No timetable was given for Jack’s return.
J.R. Smith is excited that his contract standoff with the Cavaliers is now in the past, adding that he intends to live in Cleveland year-round now that he has a long-term deal, Michael Beaven of Ohio.com writes. “It feels great,” Smith said of being back. “I didn’t take my physical yet, so I can’t practice, but it feels good to be in the gym, be around the guys and to be a part of it. I have worked out and done a bunch of basketball drills, but as far as 5-on-5 pickup I haven’t done anything like that. I had a great team behind me as far as on the agent side. The Cavs wanted me and they knew I wanted to be here.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is excited about the addition of swingman Luis Montero, who was signed by the team earlier today, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel notes (Twitter links). “We were actually surprised that he was available and wanted to take advantage of that,” Spoelstra said. “He’s one of these long,athletic, combo wing guys that we’ve had success with.“

Central Notes: J.R. Smith, Harris, Ish Smith, Pacers

October 15th, 2016 at 8:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Contract length was the sticking point more than salary in the long standoff between J.R. Smith and the Cavaliers, writes Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Smith’s impasse ended Friday night when he agreed to a new three-year, $45MM pact with a non-guaranteed fourth season. Because of the luxury tax, Smith’s $12.8MM salary for this season will cost the Cavs about $39MM. The tax is why Cleveland didn’t match Milwaukee’s four-year, $40MM offer to Matthew Dellavedova, Pluto notes, as the front office decided it was too expensive to keep both.

Pluto also casts doubt on reports that the Cavs were motivated to get a deal done with Smith because he was negotiating with the Sixers, saying that Philadelphia had plenty of cap room to make Smith an offer any time during the summer if it had been interested and that Smith doesn’t fit with the rest of the Sixers’ young roster.

There’s more tonight from the Central Division:

The Pistons are optimistic that Tobias Harris will be even better with the benefit of a full training camp, according to Lang Green of Basketball Insiders. Detroit roared into the playoffs last season with a 17-11 record after the All-Star break, and a big reason was the acquisition of Harris from Orlando at the trade deadline. “Tobias has been great,” said coach/executive Stan Van Gundy. “He came [into training camp] in unbelievable shape, worked really hard all summer and is just moving along playing two positions. Again, a guy that’s really tried to take to heart everything we’ve been talking about. He’s really been trying to work harder defensively, I mean, [he’s] exactly the kind of guy you want.”
New Pistons point guard Ish Smith says he wasn’t upset that the Sixers didn’t keep him, tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Smith, who started 50 games for Philadelphia last year after a midseason deal, texted Sixers coach Brett Brown frequently during the offseason. “We were losing,” Brown said of Smith. “He gave us an injection when we needed it the most and he gave us hope.” (Twitter link)
With three new starters, the Pacers are using the preseason to help everyone get acquainted, writes Mark Montieth of NBA.com. Two offseason trades brought in Jeff Teague as the new point guard and Thaddeus Young as the new power forward. Second-year center Myles Turner has also been promoted to the starting lineup. All five played more than 32 minutes in Friday’s game with Orlando as the players learn to adjust to each other. “We have an open offense, where every player is a playmaker and every player has the ability to make plays,” said Paul George. “It might be my shots are going to come down, because it’s more of a free-flowing offense. That’s part of what I have to figure out. Do I try to remain consistent with my shots (from last season) or go with the game flow.”

Cavs Re-Sign J.R. Smith, Waive Douglas

October 15th, 2016 at 11:37am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 11:37am: The Cavs officially announced the signing, as well as that guard Toney Douglas has been waived to clear a spot for Smith.

FRIDAY, 9:14pm: The fourth year of Smith’s deal is non-guaranteed, Stein relays (Twitter links ). However, a full guarantee will kick in if he remains on the roster after the 2018/19 campaign comes to a close, the scribe adds. The guard will earn $45MM during the first three years of the pact, according to Stein.

8:18pm: According to Stein (Twitter link), a hard push from Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo to ink Smith is was spurred Cleveland to up its offer to the guard.

7:29pm: The Cavs and unrestricted free agent J.R. Smith have finally ended their stalemate, with the shooting guard agreeing to a new contract with the team, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). It will be a four-year, $57MM arrangement, according to the scribe. There is no word yet if the agreement includes any options (player or team), nor if the entire pact is fully guaranteed.

Smith had been reportedly seeking an annual salary of $15MM, while the Cavs reportedly preferred to sign him to a contract in the $10MM to $12MM range. In the end, Smith will receive an average annual salary of $14MM, per the terms Stein relayed.

It was surprising that negotiations lasted this long between the two sides given their mutual desire to keep the relationship going. The Celtics reportedly had serious interest in signing Smith, though Boston wouldn’t have been able to offer Smith a salary starting more than $9MM unless they made a trade to clear cap space. The possibility of Smith signing elsewhere, which likely would have upset superstar LeBron James, may have played a factor in Cleveland upping its offer. Though, that is merely speculation on my part.

The 31-year-old started a career-high 77 games for the Cavs during the 2015/16 season, and also started all 21 of the team’s playoff games. During the season, he averaged 12.4 PPG and shot 40.0% from long distance, making 2.6 threes per game.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Smith, Johnson, Shumpert

October 14th, 2016 at 7:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The start of the regular season is less than two weeks away and J.R. Smith is still a free agent. The shooting guard and the Cavs remain at an impasse over salary and according to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein earlier today, “it’s only a matter of time” before the free agent guard starts to engage more seriously with other teams. Despite all that, coach Tyronn Lue remains confident that Smith will be a member of the team this season, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. “We pretty much know what direction we have to go in if J.R. isn’t here, but I feel confident that J.R. will be here. We’ll just see how it works out,” Lue told the scribe.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

In the wake of Thursday night’s preseason loss to the Raptors, Lue said the Cavaliers are still attempting to determine who will receive point guard minutes behind Kyrie Irving to start the season. “We may have to do it by committee,” Lue said, per Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net. “Different nights may call for different players.”
In the event that the Pistons don’t shed one of their guaranteed contracts when paring down their roster to 15 players, there’s a chance that Stanley Johnson could be called upon to act as playmaker from the shooting guard spot in a pinch, Aaron McMann of MLive.com opines in response to a reader question.
The Cavs could conceivably look to trade Iman Shumpert in an effort to lower its luxury tax hit for signing Smith, but that scenario is highly unlikely, opines Joe Vardon of The Northeast Ohio Media Group in response to a reader question. Despite having one of his worst statistical seasons a pro last year, Shumpert remains in the team’s plans, Vardon adds. The scribe also notes that Shumpert’s trade value isn’t particularly high right now and the franchise is hoping he’ll demonstrate the production that led to them acquiring him from the Knicks.
Don’t forget to check out our Offseason in Review posts for the Bucks, Bulls, Pistons and Pacers.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Stein’s Latest: Extensions, Jazz, Cavs, J.R. Smith

October 14th, 2016 at 12:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Within his latest piece for ESPN.com, NBA insider Marc Stein takes a look around the league to attempt to determine which players entering the final year of their rookie scale contracts are most likely to sign extensions before the October 31 deadline. As Stein points out, the uncertainty surrounding the CBA may make some players or teams reluctant to finalize a new deal that won’t go into effect until next summer, but there are still a few extension candidates worth monitoring.

According to Stein, Jazz center Rudy Gobert is viewed as the most likely candidate to be extended this month — Utah wants to lock up both Gobert and Derrick Favors to long-term deals, recognizing that securing those players could help convince Gordon Hayward to re-sign next summer. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Pistons), Gorgui Dieng (Timberwolves), and Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves) are also in play for potential extensions, says Stein.

Here’s more from the ESPN scribe:

It’s not clear how eager the Thunder will be to get something done with Steven Adams and/or Victor Oladipo before October 31, since the team may be enticed by the possibility of maintaining 2017 cap room, Stein notes. Oklahoma City could take the same approach the Wizards and Pistons did with Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond, respectively, waiting to extend them in order to maximize cap room. Of course, waiting until 2017 would almost certainly mean doing max deals for Adams and/or Oladipo.
As high as they are on Dennis Schroder‘s potential, the Hawks may want to see how he handles the starting point guard job in Jeff Teague‘s absence before committing to a long-term deal, Stein writes. In that case, an extension this month seems unlikely.
The Cavaliers had been offering a $10-11MM annual salary to J.R. Smith, and while it’s possible they’ve increased their offer, it hasn’t been enough to entice Smith to sign. Sources tell Stein “it’s only a matter of time” before the free agent guard starts to engage more seriously with other teams.
While they don’t have the cap room for him at this point, the Celtics‘ reported interest in Smith is genuine, according to Stein, who suggests Boston could explore moving some salary to another team in order to create space for Smith.
There are whispers that the Cavaliers have “strong interest” in bringing Mario Chalmers aboard when he’s healthy enough to play, per Stein. Chalmers, who remains on the free agent market, continues to recover from Achilles surgery.
The Jazz don’t appear inclined to add anyone to their roster as a temporary fill-in while Gordon Hayward’s broken finger heals, Stein writes.

Celtics Interested In J.R. Smith

October 9th, 2016 at 3:26pm CST by Will Joseph

The Celtics are interested in adding J.R. Smith, who has carried a contract impasse with the Cavaliers from the summer into the preseason, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports.

The Celtics can only offer Smith a salary starting at $9MM unless they make a trade to clear cap space, as Isola notes. Avery Bradley is the Celtics’ starting shooting guard. The Celtics are in the market for Smith in an effort to bolster their second unit’s scoring, Isola adds.

Other teams are interested in Smith, who is still likely to re-sign with the Cavs, Isola adds. Smith has been reportedly wanting a $15MM annual salary, while the Cavs prefer to sign him to a contract in the $10MM to $12MM range. Smith, 31, started a career-high 77 games for the Cavs during the 2015/16 season, and also started all 21 of the team’s playoff games. During the season, he averaged 12.4 PPG and shot 40.0% from long distance, making 2.6 threes per game.

LeBron Discusses Cavs’ Negotiations With J.R. Smith

September 30th, 2016 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

A year after the Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson took contract negotiations down to the wire, the team is once again engaged in a standoff with a key free agent. This time around, it’s J.R. Smith who remains unsigned, despite the fact that the Cavs have made him an “incredibly competitive and aggressive” offer, according to general manager David Griffin.

While the two sides are still expected to reach an agreement eventually, count LeBron James among those who isn’t thrilled about the fact that there’s no resolution yet. Speaking today to reporters, including Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Finals MVP said he hates “having to deal with this s–t again” during training camp, adding that “it wouldn’t be good for any side” if the Cavs and Smith don’t work something out.

“Negotiations are always two sides but J.R. did his part,” James said. “He showed up every day. Worked his ass off every day. Became a two-way player, a model citizen in Cleveland and he’s a fan favorite, obviously we all know that. All of the sudden now he’s a season ticket holder at the Indians games. We just miss him. We miss having him around. He’s a big piece of our team and they just need to get it done.”

While LeBron suggested he’s not involved in negotiations at all, his praise for Smith suggests he wants to see his teammate gets paid, and his comments today may be designed to nudge the Cavs toward increasing their offer a little. According to Vardon, the club’s offer to Smith, which he rejected, was somewhere between $10-11MM annually. The veteran guard was reportedly seeking $15MM per year earlier in the offseason.

Smith, who turned 31 this month, started a career-high 77 games for the Cavs during the 2015/16 season, and also started all 21 of the team’s playoff games. During the season, he averaged 12.4 PPG and shot 40.0% from long distance, making 2.6 threes per game. He increased those three-point numbers to 43.0% and 3.1 per game during the postseason.

Cavs Notes: Anthony, Smith, Dunleavy, D-League

September 28th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is hoping his friend J.R. Smith can work out his contract situation in time to receive his championship ring on opening night, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York will be the opponent when Cleveland starts its season October 25th, but Smith’s presence is far from guaranteed. The veteran shooting guard has been in a contract impasse with the Cavaliers all summer, reportedly wanting a $15MM annual salary, while the team wants something in the $10MM to $12MM range. Word broke this week of an “aggressive” offer by the Cavs, but the situation remains unresolved. “I don’t know what’s going on over there with that,” Anthony said. “I hope they don’t prolong the situation. He helped them win that championship. He was a major part of that team, and I hope they can get something done. If not, we’ll see him somewhere else.’’

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

After being with four other teams in his 14 NBA seasons, Mike Dunleavy is overjoyed to wind up with the Cavaliers, writes Sam Amico of AmicoHoops. Cleveland acquired Dunleavy in a deal with the Bulls when Chicago was trying to clear cap space to sign Dwyane Wade. The veteran swingman described the trade as “Christmas in July.” The Cavs plan to use him as a shooter to stretch the floor alongside LeBron James, and in combination with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye to have three tall shooters on the floor at the same time. “I see myself being involved in whatever way, shape or form we need,” Dunleavy said. “It’s as simple as that. I can play a lot of different roles, anything necessary to get these guys back to the mountain top. Basically, Coach [Tyronn] Lue can use me however he wants. I’m just happy to be here.”
James can expect to see reduced minutes this season, as well as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, according to Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. After two consecutive seasons that stretched into late June, the Cavaliers will be emphasizing rest. Measures will include monitoring players’ energy levels and staying longer in cities after road games. “My thing is just making sure guys are healthy, continue to limit LeBron’s minutes … watch Kyrie’s minutes because we know we’re playing for something big,” Lue said. “We know when we get to the playoffs it’s going to require a lot of minutes so with those guys and with Kevin [Love], just have to watch guys getting to the red zone.”
Nate Reinking was named coach of the Cavaliers’ D-League affiliate in Canton, according to D-League Digest (Twitter link). He has been an assistant with the team since 2013.

Cavs Have Made “Aggressive” Offer To J.R. Smith

September 26th, 2016 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

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.