After seeing all the money that the Cavaliers are spending during this off season, I’m sure JR Smith did not see this one coming. According to reports, the Cavs are saying they will re-sign JR Smith for less money.
At the end of the playoffs, JR Smith decided to opt-out of his player option with the Cavs with the hopes that he would be re-signed with a longer term contract and more money. Unfortunately, the Cavs have not reached out to JR to negotiate a contract with the terms he was expecting. Ultimately, this is leaving JR hanging in the balance and I imagine at this point, he and his agent have been talking about exploring other options–although I imagine he would prefer to play alongside LeBron.
The Cavs have reportedly reached out to JR with a one year deal and the craziest part is that the amount that the contract is worth, is less than what he would have received if he would have opted-in for the one year initially. At this point, JR Smith has to be feeling a little sick since his plan to receive a long term deal went out the window and now the Cavs front office is, from his view point, low-balling him. Since hindsight is 20/20, I guess there is no point in saying what he should have done at the end of the playoffs.
The sense of urgency must not have been there for Cleveland after losing in the Finals to Golden State and rightfully so. JR definitely did not show up when they needed him most and to add fuel to the fire, Mo Williams was signed back to the Cavs this summer and that is just another shooting option that the offense could go to over JR.
One silver lining in this situation for JR, however, is that reports are indicating that LeBron wants him to play there and we know how that usually goes. When LeBron wants something, 9 times out of 10, he gets it. Also, if JR accepts the current deal, he has an opportunity to get big bucks during his next free agency campaign in summer 2016 when the salary cap is expected to rise.
