Insta-Commitment… Welcome Back J.R. Swish!
2015-08-21https://instagram.com/p/6oG0NDNfH-/?taken-by=teamswish
As has become his custom for announcing new commitments these days, J.R. Smith let the world know that he was returning to the Cavs via Instagram last night. The deal is reportedly for two years and more than $10M, according to ESPN.com sources. The second year of the contract will be a player option, and also that Smith will have the ability to veto any trade during the season.
Back in June, instead of opting into the final year of his deal, which would have paid him $6.4 million for this season, J.R. decided to look for a better and longer deal in free agency. With few teams still under the cap, Earl ultimately made the choice to return to the Cavs at a decent sized pay cut. However, the new guaranteed player option increases his opportunity for more total money, in addition to keeping the option to test free agency again next season.
Damn… how much was that again?
J.R. came a long way last season from being considered (by many, including me) a poison pill or collateral baggage in the trade David Griffin made with the New York Knicks in January to pick up fellow wingman Iman Shumpert.
Instead, he checked his checkered past at the door, and helped the Cavs finish the regular season 34-13, averaging 12.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 42.5% from the field (39% from three). He ran into some trouble in the playoffs, first with a two-game suspension and then with a cold shooting streak in the Finals. But, for the most part, he had a net positive impact on this team, and was a key to turning the season around.
A big reason for that maturation was probably the guidance of the King, who expressed just how happy he is that J.R. is staying put…
Welcome back brother @TheRealJRSmith! Happy you're sticking around. #TheLand #StriveForGreatness
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 21, 2015
With J.R. now in the fold, the last task at hand (aside from making sure Sasha Kaun doesn’t just waste a bunch of money on a “summer house” in Cleveland for no reason) is to come to terms with Tristan Thompson. Maybe if #CavsDan would just agree to turn TT’s Cleveland digs into a Tim Horton’s franchise, that would clinch things…
It’s been done in Calgary… why not Cleveland?
And since it’s technically Flashback Friday, in honor of J.R., I figured it would be fun to flash back to my five favorite Earl Joseph Smith, III moments from last season…
#5 — J.R. showed off his defensive abilities with a tremendous stuff of, what Marc Gasol thought would be, an easy layup. J.R. then had the wherewithal to push the ball up the court and find Kevin Love with a rare oop for the big man…
#4 — On his first trip back to Madison Square Garden since the mid-season trade, J.R. did his best to put on a show and stick it to Phil Jackson. He and his fellow Knick cast-off, Shump, hooked up for this sick alley oop dunk, with J.R. on the receiving end of the throw down. You could just hear PJ’s teeth grinding over the crowd noise as he thumbed out any number of derogatory tweets that night…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnPZ04j0q70
#3 — Even though J.R.’s motto is “when in doubt… shoot,” he regularly proved that he was not just what some feared he might be (an older, ball-hoggier version of St. Weirdo), showing off his court vision and heads-up passing skills. This half court oop to a streaking LeBron was a particularly sublime example…
#2 — When he did shoot, the results could be amazing. This shot to beat the halftime buzzer against the Bulls showed just what kind of ridiculous range J.R. has (apparently it’s half court)…
#1 — J.R. can run hot and cold, but in Game 1 of the ECF against the Hawks, he went NBA Jam En Fuego, setting a new Cavalier playoff record with eight threes. He was responsible for the entire 28 bench points the Cavs scored on 10-16 shots (8-12 from beyond the arc), and kicked in eight rebounds for good measure. It was easily J.R.’s best performance of the season…
There were many other memorable moments (feel free to share yours below), but I’ll leave you with one more bonus Insta-moment from off the court…
https://instagram.com/p/3K7yOUNfBg/?taken-by=teamswish
Welcome back J.R.!
Eastern Conference early predictions: Indiana and Boston will both be pesky teams that irritate and sneak up on juggernauts like Cleveland and San Antonio for a game or two in the regular season, but overall just are not that good as they hover just below .500. These two teams, along with possibly Detroit, will be clawing and scratching for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Milwaukee, Washington, and Toronto will jostle for the 5th through 7th seeds in the Eastern Conference. They will be real threats to the 2 through 4 seeds in the playoffs and which ever… Read more »
Cleveland, Chicago, and Miami are as deep as any team in the west. But only Cleveland has the talent at the top of its roster to keep up with leading talents in the Western Conference.
Cleveland, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Golden State, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets.
Chicago, Miami, Memphis, New Orleans.
Kaun Air starring John Malkovic
Agree… This might be the best Cavs roster ever. KAAAAAAAUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!
King Kaun!
The Wrath of Kaun!
Kaun you believe it!
HEY T.T. –” WE’RE WAITING “—-C’MON KEEEP THIS MOMENTUM GOING AND BECOME PART OF SOMETHING ” VERY SPECIAL ” !!!!—IN THE LAND
DARN IT ARCH YOU BEAT ME TO THE SCOOP ( GETTING SLOW AT MY OLD AGE ) —-AGREED EVIL –ON PAPER THIS IS THE BEST CAVS ROSTER EVER —- BASKETBALL ( SORRY BROWNS ) CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH !!
With the reported Kaun signing…
PG Kyrie, Mo, Delly, (possibly) Cook
SG Shump, J.R., Joe H., (possibly) Pointer
SF LeBron, Jefferson, JFJ, (possibly) Cunningham
PF KLove, TT (for at least this year)
C Moz, AV, Kaun
Seems like a pretty stacked team…
In fact, on paper at least, this is the best roster ever in a Cavs uniform…
What do you mean “on paper”? This is much better than last year, which was by far the best Cavs roster to that point. It is hard to imagine what Cols will gripe about, although he is resourceful.
Come on, Tristan! Don’t be silly.
This roster would have won the finals last year in four or five games, even without KI+KL.
I mean “on paper” in that the season hasn’t started yet. That’s all. Last year was the previous best team in paper and they ultimately proved they were the best Cavs team ever by how far they got. Just saying that this team is even better than that team on paper, and should turn out to be better ultimately as well barring unforeseen circumstances.
@IAmDPick: Source: Cavaliers, Sasha Kaun to sign two-season agreement.
Good news! Team is loading up for an epic season.
Man I’m out of shape. I’ve gotta get of this Deli Diet.
Great clips, Evil.
There are going to be a lot of games like that Charlotte game this year.
DARTH VADER LIVES !!
@MrDee25: @FearTheSword #Cavs draftee Cedi Osman severely sprained his ankle in a friendly vs Poland. http://t.co/0L9IUAG11O http://t.co/CivMeOyyZa
No, not the Jedi!
@IAmDPick: Source: Cavaliers, Sasha Kaun to sign two-season agreement.
I am exhausted reading all this ” MUST HAVE THE COLS OUT OF SHAPE SYDROME ” —-NEED SOME COLORADO MEDICINE TO CURE ME !!!
Safe to say that that isn’t beautiful Lake Erie in JR’s instagram, or is it? #TheLand
Come on Tristan, the money you’ve been offered is ridiculous. Take it and let’s move forward.
New track from Shump…
One of the things that was a big surprise was JR’s ability on defense. He showed a lot last year in that area. Plus he is tall 6’6″ and athletic….He and Shump both add a lot to our D. Credit again to Griff for building a balanced team. Let’s hope Lebron’s influence on keeping JR in line continues for a couple more years.
Gotta admit, I was kind of bummed about this. I was waiting for the price to drop on Smith jerseys.
Haha. That’s pretty funny.
JR was so great last year until the Finals (but everyone outside of LeBron sucked in the Finals). This is an unreal contract for the team and definitely lower than his value. Sucks he didn’t get paid, but I’m really glad he’s back.
He was probably out of shape in the finals.
Too bad LeBron was out of shape in the finals too. He should have won it for us. He sucked!
Blatt was out of shape coaching. Look how tired the players got.
You guys are funny. It seem JR was more unfocused in the Finals more than anything. BTW Refs were out of shape too. Unacceptable
Cols is out of shape! He didn’t say anyone sucked for over 24 hours! At least he is back; I was worried that he was crisped in a wildfire or eaten by a bear or something.
Definitely looked fat and slow.
Delly played well in the finals. He took out Steh Curry.
Delly played well in the finals. He took out Steph Curry.
Don’t make me post Delly’s awful stats in the Finals. And no, he didn’t take out Curry. Curry played pretty good all Finals.
You mean with the exception of Game 2 when Delly held him to 5-23 shooting (2-15 from three) and forced him into 6 turnovers… And also the first three quarters of Game 3 where it was more of the same until he got hot in the fourth after they were down by 17?
I think every time you post Delly’s stats in the Finals, we should include this…
Cols714 says:
June 8, 2015 at 8:26 am (Edit)
grinding grinding Cavs
LeBron ridiculous great
Delly for the win
Yes Please do!!
Ha. The dude played great in game 3. But overall he was just horrid.
He played great in Games 2 and 3. He left it all on the court in Game 3 and wasn’t the same after that. He did more than any back up PG has ever done against Curry (the MVP btw). I know it kills you to give any credit at all to the guy. Maybe you’re overcompensating for the amount of love Delly gets from everyone else. The point is, he was never supposed to be the starting PG. He was never supposed to play more than 10-15 minutes per game. He did a heroic job for two games and… Read more »
Most of the time in professional sports, hoping that a long time knucklehead will grow up and be productive is a long shot. But JR was more of a goofy guy who enjoyed being a clown as opposed to a trouble maker. And, for a half year now, he has been doing all the right things. So I am glad they found a contract that has a little for everyone. As for the two game suspension after the Boston series, I (and probably the other 14 guys on the team) was glad he did it; considering the way the Celtics… Read more »
Spot on, Raoul. I was among many when I prematurely judged him as a “knucklehead” and “locker room cancer” when really it’s seems more like what you said — he’s just a goofy guy. Maybe it’s easy to view him as a “thug” cuz of how swaggering and tatted up he is but someone’s true colors shine when they get an opportunity like JR has here in CLE. Here’s to hoping JR is remembered primarily as a Cav when all is said and done — we’ll ride to the grave with the Pipe Master.
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1764445-timeline-of-jr-smiths-off-the-court-antics-through-his-nba-career
Forgot to add this…
WELCOME BACK JR SWISH / GRIFF AND COMPANY ARE MAKING A ” SWISH / SPLASH ” THIS SUMMER ALSO—1 MORE TO GO —-C’MON T.T. FINISH IT OFF WITH A SLAM DUNK !!
Dropping $1.8 million from J.R.’s contract this year saves the Cavs between $7-10 million in luxury tax and salary this season.
#1 should prove that JR can indeed handle the spotlight. That was Game 1 at ATL and 3/4 of the game was spent with the point differential in the single digits. He had defenders right up in his face on many of those shots. He went cold in GSW but so did 99% of the rest of the roster. Down 2-of-3 All-Stars that might happen vs a World Championship club.
Electric highlights – when does the season start?
One more Cav to go. Make it happen Griff.
Awesome!! Wish it was 3 years but still awesome. Griffin has aced the summer.
Two is perfect.