National Basketball Association

Cleveland Cavaliers: The J.R. Smith Dilemma

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Cleveland Cavaliers still haven’t re-signed J.R. Smith and that’s a problem for the reigning NBA champions.

On Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers held their annual Media Day and much of the team that won the NBA title a year prior was back. LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were some of the returning stars answering questions from the media.

But there was one player not present and it was something Cavaliers’ management had to address early in their press conference.

As of right now, the Cavaliers still haven’t signed re-signed J.R. Smith to a new deal — hence his absence from Media Day. Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is still hopeful that Smith will re-sign.

“We have made an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer in re-signing him,” said Griffin, via Cleveland.com, during his press conference on Media Day.

Although the Cavaliers have made such an offer to Smith, bringing him back has not been an easy task. Smith, whose contract expired this summer, was seeking a huge payday.

He was a key part of the Cavaliers championship run, averaging 11.8 points per game and shooting a career-high 43 percent from three-point range in the playoffs.

As of right now, however, he hasn’t gotten the contract he’s been looking for. The Cavaliers have chosen to address other issues among the roster rather than re-signing Smith. One of those includes re-signing LeBron James, but they need to re-sign Smith.

As the starting shooting guard, Smith’s ability to stretch the floor with Kyrie Irving is a big boost for Cleveland. It gives LeBron an outlet for kick-outs and forces defenses to not crowd the lane to stop a potential James or Irving drive and layup.

His ability to get hot quickly also makes him a dangerous threat on offense. Last year, he recorded a Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) of 2.0 and stepped up when Iman Shumpert, his backup, was playing very poorly.

In a career where he seemed to be labeled as a sort of unstable player, Smith shed that label. He was a different player in the Finals — a player that seemed to understand the moment and his role on the team. There were no crazy pull-up threes and no lack of energy. He showed how much it meant to him when the final buzzer sounded in Game 7.

His play in the Finals showed that Smith can step up when needed. With his contract expiring, it was natural to expect that Smith wanted a pay raise.

But it put the Cavaliers in a bind financially. James, Irving, Love and Tristian Thompson all already make double figures in salary, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are way over the salary cap. Smith would only add to that tax. It’s up to the Cavs to determine if they want to go over for him. It would be tough, but it’s a move they need to make.