King James Gospel Roundtable Discussion: Week 5

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Dec 13, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) and guard DeAndre Liggins (14) celebrate in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Should DeAndre Liggins remain a starter but the Cavs still give J.R. Smith starters minutes?

Quenton Albertie: I think Smith earned his starting job, however, if he can’t play the type of defense that allowed him guard all three perimeter positions then the game changes. Perhaps this is also one of those situations that Lue wouldn’t have to consider if they had a backup point guard because without a strong bench unit, adding a shooter like Smith to that group would be beneficial. That’s the only reason to put Smith on the bench besides porous defense. Still, Smith has time to turn his season around defensively. He already has offensively.

Jackson Flickinger: Liggins has played great, but he shouldn’t take Smith’s role. Smith wouldn’t be as successful coming off of the bench. J.R. is a player that needs to play with LeBron. He can’t get the open looks he has gotten if he isn’t playing with James. I understand the argument that Smith would give the bench more scoring, but I don’t think it works in this case. He needs to be out there with LeBron as much as possible.

Having Liggins come off the bench and provide energy would be just as effective. We’ve seen in the past how high energy players like Matthew Dellavedova and Anderson Varejao have been great bench players without providing much of a scoring punch. Liggins can do the same thing.

Liggins is a good player in his role, however, he loses his effectiveness if you put him in a role he isn’t capable of excelling in. He wouldn’t excel as a permanent starter on the team. You could make a better argument that Iman Shumpert should start over Smith than you could Liggins.

Daniel Opacich: I would like to see more of Liggins, but it could be in the form of a dual role from the bench as a backup (defensive situations) point guard, and as a backup to Smith. His defense is his strong suit, so he will be used to retain leads off the bench.

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