Well at least he knows that he may have screwed up. We don’t know yet but at the moment he’s taking an L in terms of finding a deal that suits him. Smith and Cleveland are trying to find a deal but we can’t guess whether he’ll get a deal or not. It’s very hazy, and Cleveland can’t wait forever. Smith was a valuable piece last season and they’d love to keep him, as I said yesterday if they get Smith back it’ll be for less than the player option he could’ve opted in but didn’t.
With that information, J.R. Smith is currently 50/50 about his decision in terms of regret.
“That’s always part of the gamble of opting out,” Smith said on Monday at the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas, where the NBA players’ union held its summer meeting.
Asked if he regretted his decision to decline his contract option, Smith said “Uh, I mean, yes and no. […] No because I’ve gotten offers that I wanted, I mean numbers that I wanted, it’s just different situations,” Smith said. “Right now it’s just a matter of seeing what the Cavs come back to me with. Right now they give me the best opportunity to win.”
Smith’s agent, Leon Rose, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. It is believed Smith was seeking somewhere in the $7 million to $9 million range annually, and he declined to disclose which teams his offers may have come from. […] There are only three teams in the NBA that still have the cap space to give him a raise from last year: the Portland Trail Blazers ($16.4 million in cap space); Philadelphia 76ers ($16.3 million); and Indiana Pacers ($11.5 million).
The Blazers, the Sixers and the Pacers. Now I’m not sure about you but if he was planning to get a better (and bigger) deal, he should see the teams above and go “yes I screwed up”.
He took a gamble and the only way he can get more money is if he plays for teams worse than Cleveland and a Pacer team that already has a starting shooting guard. So in my eyes it’s not 50/50, he lost. And now the Cavs got Richard Jefferson who doesn’t exactly plug up the hole but must get Smith sweating. They’re attempting to move on and are nearly done.
