#FreeSwish: Cleveland Cavaliers Need To Start J.R. Smith

The Cleveland Cavaliers have to start J.R. Smith. Tyronn Lue can’t wait on an indefinite time frame to make changes to the starting lineup.

There are a million reasons (hyperbole) J.R. Smith should return to the starting lineup for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not in the least because fans, from every team, love Smith.

However, Smith is the heartbeat of the Cavs and will be able to keep the team energized. One of the biggest problems the Cavs have is coming out without enough energy and effort. Smith hustles, he dives on the floor for loose balls.

When Smith hits a three, the crowd erupts.

One of the biggest impacts of starting Smith will be the emotional effect it will have on the team and the crowd. The team feeds off of the crowd and both the team and the crowd feed off of Smith.

Smith, who is one of the team’s best defenders, will have an underrated impact on the Cavs’ perimeter defense.

Smith, at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, is better on shot contests and for a defense that’s better when switching on screens than the 6-foot-5, 210 pound Iman Shumpert.

Smith is also the better team defender. Where Shumpert hustles around the court, virtually face-guarding his man, Smith always focuses on the whole floor while he keeps his body between his man and the basket.

Shumpert is a great man-to-man defender but is at times overzealous and leaves the Cavaliers vulnerable. By not rotating fast enough or to the right place as he focuses on his original man, opposing teams often have a player open that the Cavs can’t get to or don’t know whose man it is. For a team with Shumpert, LeBron James and Tristan Thompson, all considered to be strong if not exceptional defenders, you’d have to think the defense shouldn’t be so shoddy on a consistent basis.

However, the problem is two-fold. First, one of their best defenders in Shumpert becomes too fixated on an individual matchup and leaves his team vulnerable on rotations. Second, Lue enables this type of defense by not taking Shumpert out of the game when he makes these types of defense mistakes. Instead of a punishment, he receives positive reinforcement. That simply perpetuates the problem and we end up seeing things like down-to-the-wire games against the Los Angeles Lakers despite the Big Three combining for 101 points.

In any case, on the offensive end, Smith will give the Cavs better spacing in the starting lineup. Smith (also known as J.R. Swish) is the better three-point shooter. Everyone, including opposing defenses, know that.

Their scouting report should simply say not to leave Smith open. For Shumpert, the scouting report may actually lead to teams dare him to take threes, as 70.6 percent of Shumpert’s shots are open or wide open looks.

Yet, after shooting 28.2 percent from three-point range in January, Shumpert has only made 31.7 percent of his threes in March.

Smith will be more likely to hit the wide open three and he’s definitely a threat to hit a contested one.

Shumpert seems to prefer taking a step inside the arc and, if that’s the case, he should be in the second unit. When DeAndre Liggins was replaced by Shumpert it was because he wasn’t shooting or making enough threes. Shumpert’s three-point efficiency is already worse than Liggins’ was at any point in time and he’s also refusing to automatically take catch-and-shoot threes.

On the bench, Shumpert and Deron Williams would be threats to score from all three levels of the floor at any given time, allowing D-Will to play off-the-ball on offense at times. On the defensive end, Shumpert can guard both guard positions and make life easier for Williams if he’s matched up against the quicker, shiftier or more explosive player.

Smith, who is trying to get back in rhythm before the playoffs, would benefit from starting off the game with attention drawn to the rest of the starters (and starting the game next to QB LeBron). This is the logic Lue used for Shumpert starting, and it worked out at first as Shump was taking far fewer contested threes (attempts that may turn into plays Shumpert makes off-the-dribble now).

Smith, who is a starter, would also be better suited playing with the starters  as soon as possible simply because the team is trying to get it’s rotation set by April 12th, the final day of the NBA’s regular season.

For the record, Lue says Smith will probably start when Kyle Korver returns.

However, according to Advance Ohio’s Joe Vardon, Korver, who is opting to heal his foot naturally, doesn’t have a definitive timetable for his return.

With no promises about when he’ll be back it makes little sense to sit Smith on the bench for an indefinite period of time. If Lue wants a shooter on the bench, he could opt to play James Jones.

That’s what “Champ”, who’s knocking down 54.7 percent of his three-point shots this season, is there for. (By the way, wasn’t Shumpert starting because he’s supposed to be a shooter?)

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Do you think the Cleveland Cavaliers should start J.R. Smith? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.