There appears to be a fire sale going on in Cleveland, as the Cavs are trying to get rid of all their bad contracts in a rebuild season. J.R. Smith might be the next player to be traded.
After trading point guard George Hill and small forward Sam Dekker to the Milwaukee Bucks, J.R. Smith may be on his way out of Cleveland. According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans contacted the Cavs about a potential trade involving J.R Smith, who is still on the roster but won’t play for the Cavs again.
J.R. Smith is making $14.7 million this season, but has just $3.9 million guaranteed in 2019-20. The 15-year veteran played in 11 games this season for the Cavs and averaged 6.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 34.2 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from beyond the arc and 80.0 percent from the free-throw line.
J.R. Smith signed a four-year, $57 million contract with Cleveland in October of 2016. He averaged 8.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 80 regular season games last season, shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the 3-point line.
J.R. Smith committed a careless error in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Smith got the offensive rebound off of a George Hill missed free throw, but dribbled the ball out to the perimeter, clearly not knowing that the game was tied.
