The situation with the Cleveland Cavaliers can become interesting over the next few weeks. The Cavs top two free agents, LeBron James and Kevin Love, are officially locked into their deals with the team and have been for over a month now.
Then there’s the second tier of guys. The all-important rotation guys that play big roles for Cleveland in J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson. While Thompson’s contract discussion has hit a snag that possibly could mean he leaves Cleveland next summer, J.R. Smith has yet to do anything or make any sort of ultimatum.
Smith is in an interesting situation. Some teams can offer him a deal, nothing lucrative, to play with them but they aren’t the defending Eastern Conference champions. On the flipside, it appears the Cavs have made a decision on Smith and his value, quite possibly less than what he expected to be offered.
Following from Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com.
The hard part for Smith is he knows he should have picked up the player option for $6.4 million for 2015-16. When he passed and became a free agent, he really believed a multi-year offer for more money was coming his way.
It didn’t happen.
The Cavs have made him an offer. I hear it’s less than $6.4 million that he turned down. They know Smith is not thrilled with a lesser deal. But right now, he has no leverage, and a one-year contract puts him in position to cash in next summer when the salary cap rises 30 percent.
Smith may continue to wait. But right now, it seems Cleveland is his only option.
This might be a big reason why he regrets electing to not pick up his player option for next season. He was on the fence about his decision, which he quickly made after the Cavs NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The only team that could offer him anything huge would be the Portland Trail Blazers. While his ability to score would be a great compliment to Damian Lillard, the Blazers are nowhere near title contenders and Smith isn’t getting any younger.
There’s also the factor of Cleveland possibly using their newly made trade exception to acquire Jamal Crawford from the Los Angeles Clippers. Having Crawford on the team would eliminate any need for Smith to remain with Cleveland.
So now Smith sits, waiting and wondering as we all do. Will he take the offer for less money or will he join the team anyway. He needs to play his cards right before the Cavs move on without his commitment.
