Over the last four seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers were a premier franchise. Obviously, having one of the all-time greats in LeBron James certainly helps that, but Cleveland had the resume to back up being a part of the NBA's elite. The team won four consecutive Eastern Conference Championships, broke numerous NBA records and won the franchise's first championship in 2016.
But, towards the end of their four year run of dominance, the Cavaliers went from elite to a joke. During Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, Cleveland's collapse began when Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith made one of the most infamous and boneheaded plays in NBA history. This exact play marked the beginning of the end for the Cavaliers, as well as Smith's time in Cleveland.
When Smith was first traded to the Cavaliers from the New York Knicks, a lot of boneheaded plays like above were expected. Instead, the Cavaliers got a prototypical wing that could hit three-pointers and defend the perimeter, which made him the perfect complimentary piece to their king. Smith's play elevated when he came to Cleveland, and reached its pinnacle in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, where Smith's heroic three-point shooting helped spark the Cavaliers to their first championship. After Smith's Game 7 heroics, along with averages 12.4 points and connecting on 40% of his three-point attempts, the Cavaliers rewarded him with a four-year, $57 million contract.
After Smith had financial security from Cleveland, his game quickly started to fall apart. The following season, Smith was in an obvious shooting slump as his scoring average dropped to 8.6% points per game and only connected on 35.4% of his shots. Last season, Smith's game only continued to regress as his career averages across the board were the lowest of his entire career. Cleveland fans began to grow irritated with Smith, and his contract extension looked more foolish by the day. Nevertheless then Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue stuck with Smith that season, even with the subpar play, and it culminated in the infamous Game 1 gaff.
As mentioned before, Smith's blunder marked the beginning of the end of Cleveland's run as a premier franchise. Soon after the 2018 NBA Finals, James left Cleveland to join the Los Angeles Lakers and that took a lot of wind out of Cleveland's sails. With James gone, many expected the Cavaliers to enter a fullscale rebuild, but the team said they would continue to contend and double downed by signing Kevin Love to a massive contract extension. Even if Cleveland had aspirations to contend, it planned to do so without Smith's help.
Heading into the 2018-19 NBA season, the Cavaliers wanted Smith entirely out of the team's rotation. The organization pressed Lue to play younger players like Rodney Hood, David Nwaba and Jordan Clarkson at the two guard spot and keep Smith glued to the Cavaliers' bench. Lue tried this at first, but after the Cavaliers suffered a humiliating home-opening loss to the Atlanta Hawks to the tune of 133-111, he turned to one of his veterans in Smith to help right the sinking ship. Lue's move to bring Smith in to join the lineup was ultimately a failure, as Smith only scored 10 points over Cleveland's next three losses, including going 0-7 from the floor against the Detroit Pistons.
This move ultimately also may have caused Lue to lose his job as Smith expressed this to reporters soon after Lue's termination:
“I had a conversation with him about it, too. I told him I don’t want to put him in a position where he had to lose his job,” Smith said. “This was before he got fired. He said the hell with it and did what he wanted to do and what he was comfortable with doing and I respect him for it. But at the same time, I don’t think it should have cost him his job.”
With the coach that still backed him now gone, the Cavaliers organization and team voice Larry Drew decided to pull Smith out of the rotation again. After being pulled out of the rotation not once, but twice, for a team that does not have much to play for to begin with, Smith flatly told reporters after practice that he told the team that he would like to be traded. With two years remaining on Smith's albatross contract, it will not be easy for Cleveland to move Smith but it is possible.
The major trade incentive that comes with Smith's contract is that if his new team were to waive him next summer, they would only have to pay him $3.8 million. This might allow Cleveland to get creative in trades but the other problem the team runs into is how subpar Smith's play has been since he signed his last contract. Well, obviously Smith was motivated by both playing for a championship and a contract before he was paid by Cleveland and the same could happen for a team willing to take the risk on him. When motivated, Smith is one of the best wing defenders in the league with a lethal three-point shot. Perhaps trading him will not only humble Smith but also add motivation due to the fact that he will be signing his likely last major contract.
If the Cavaliers are able to drive home these points about Smith and other teams ignore recency bias, there is a market amongst contenders for Smith. If Cleveland is willing to wait until December 15, they could reunite Smith with James in Los Angeles by trading him to the Lakers for Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. If not Los Angeles, the Cavaliers could send Smith to the Houston Rockets, something they explored before, for Brandon Knight and future draft picks. Cleveland could also approach the Oklahoma City Thunder and take on Andre Roberson's bad contract and young guard Terrance Ferguson for Smith's services. All three of these teams, especially the Lakers and the Thunder, all could use extra three-point shooting and as mentioned before if Smith is motivated he is one of the best in the league.
It is hard for Cleveland fans to see yet another member of the 2016 Championship team leave in Smith. But, with the team looking to enter a hard rebuild and Smith entering the end of his career, it would be beneficial for both parties for a trade to happen. Both are in different places at this point in Smith's career, and the Cavaliers should try to acquire some future assets to continue their rebuild. Smith may only be remembered for his gaffe during the NBA Finals, but nothing can take away from the fact that he is still an NBA Champion.
