Re-Signing J.R. Smith is a Must for Cavaliers

J.R. Smith has decided to opt out of the second year of his contract. The Cleveland Cavaliers should do everything in their power to re-sign him.

Amidst of being down 3-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, the news broke that sharpshooter J.R. Smith has decided to allow his player option deadline of June 16 to pass, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, according to Chris Haynes of cleveland.com.

"Cleveland Cavaliers sharpshooter J.R. Smith will allow his player option deadline of June 16 to pass in order to become a unrestricted free agent this summer, league sources informed cleveland.com.Sources with knowledge of the situation spoke on the condition of anonymity due to sensitive nature of the timing. The Cavaliers are down 3-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals."

When it was announced Smith was traded to the Cavaliers back in January of 2015, the narrative seemed to be that acquiring Smith was the price the Cavs had to pay in order to receive Iman Shumpert; however, that has not been the case in the slightest.

In his first season with the Cavaliers, Smith started 45 of his 46 regular season games, averaging 12.7 points on 42 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep. He was able to accommodate the role of a spot up shooter that former starting shooting guard Dion Waiters wasn’t able to be.

After signing to a two-year, $10.3 million deal last offseason, Smith returned to the Cavaliers better than ever. During the 2015-16 campaign, Smith set a franchise record with 204 three pointers, which was good enough for seventh in the association. On top of his sterling three-point numbers, Smith has evolved into a consistent perimeter defender for the Cavaliers.

Truth be told, Smith has made himself too valuable for the Cavaliers to lose in free agency.

Not only is Smith’s floor spacing and defensive much needed for the Cavaliers, there is nobody on the Cavaliers–or arguably any attainable player in the NBA–who can do what the 30-year-old does for his team. If Smith were to sign elsewhere, it would inevitably leave the starting shooting guard role to Shumpert, which may not end up good for the Cavaliers.

Although he is a tenacious defender, Shumpert’s offense has made him virtually unplayable in the NBA Finals. In five games, Shump has averaged just three points on an appalling 33 percent from the field and 30 percent from three point territory. It has seemed as if he has had more hairstyles than points in the Finals.

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To add to his unimpressive Finals résumé, Shumpert simply doesn’t provide the floor spacing required to optimize the Cavaliers offense. His career average of 33 percent from beyond the arc just won’t suffice for a Cavaliers who likes to put up threes as often as possible, as they ranked third in the league in three-point attempts per game with 29.6 during the regular season.

Luckily for the Cavaliers, though, Smith has made it clear that he prefers to stay with the wine and gold. “This is where I want to be,” Smith told cleveland.com. The fans love me; I love them and my teammates. With the rising salary cap, re-signing Smith is all but impossible for general manager David Griffin and company.

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No matter the asking price, re-signing J.R. Smith should be a top of the Cavaliers offseason to-do list. His ability to hit the three-pointer, along with his much-improved defense, is something that Cavaliers can’t overlook, and is important to the success of the Cavaliers.

It should go without question that the only real importance as of right now for the Cavaliers is game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans arena Thursday. After that, all focus should be directed at acquiring “Swish.”

Do you think the Cavs must bring back J.R. Smith?