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Cleveland Cavaliers: J.R. Smith must be automatic this upcoming season

By Nathan Beighle

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 16: NBA Player J.R. Smith attends week four of the BIG3 three on three basketball league at Wells Fargo Center on July 16, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/BIG3/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 16: NBA Player J.R. Smith attends week four of the BIG3 three on three basketball league at Wells Fargo Center on July 16, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/BIG3/Getty Images) /
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After a thrilling NBA Finals, J.R. Smith being automatic this season will be a key for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ success as a team.

J.R. Smith, who came to Cleveland from New York in 2015 in a trade also involving Iman Shumpert,  was caught splashing 20 straight threes in his offseason. Smith is often times known as a one-dimensional player, and that’s fine if he can continue to knock down the deep ball at this rate.

Here is the video of Smith splashing 20 straight from deep.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXwqkQDhkiZ/?tagged=jrsmith

This upcoming season will be a huge test for J.R. Smith even though Smith is locked up until following the 2019-2020 season. This past season was a challenge for him with trails such as his injury to his daughter being born prematurely. Smith found his rhythm throughout the playoffs though, and hopefully, that will be able to keep him rolling into the regular season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a significantly better team when Smith is hitting his shot. In this past 2017 NBA Finals, J.R. Smith made five or more threes in three of the five games. In those three games, the Cavaliers had a +7 +/-. In the first two games where Smith struggled, the Cavaliers lost by a combined 41 points. When Smith hits his shots, the team generally plays better, and they are most certainly a tougher team to defend.

During the regular season, Smith hit more than five threes in six games. In those six games, the Cavaliers went an unsurprising 6-0. Smith played in just 41 games last season which was the second lowest of his career. Staying healthy and on the court will be just as big for Smith as hitting his shot will be.

Last season was Smith’s second of his career to not hit double-digit points per game. Along with that, Smith has never averaged over 3.0 threes per game. Both of those should be goals for Smith entering the 2018-2019 season.

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It’s obvious. The Cavaliers need J.R. Smith to break out every game, but I’m sure they will settle for Smith to play 70+ games and dominate a hand full. Smith has the ability, and it will be interesting to see how he starts his fourth season in Cleveland.