For better or worse, J.R. Smith will go down in Cleveland Cavaliers history

Though J.R. Smith has only been with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a little more than three seasons, he will go down as one of the most memorable members of the Wine & Gold.

More than just a “throw-in”

Looking back to early 2015, the Cleveland Cavaliers were struggling in LeBron James‘ first season back with the team. Through 39 games the team was just 19-20 and changes needed to be made. In one of his many impressive moves as Cavaliers general manager, David Griffin pulled off a three-team trade that brought J.R. Smith to Cleveland.

At the time, many considered Smith a throw-in as the main piece of the trade was guard Iman Shumpert, who was a young “three-and-D” player Cleveland coveted.

As part of acquiring the young & talented Shumpert, Cleveland would have to take on J.R. Smith, a player known league-wide as being a severe headache. LeBron was asked about the trade and told the ownership not to worry, as he would handle Smith.

Looking back on that deal now, it is one that turned the fortunes of the Cleveland Cavaliers around. J.R. not only turned his career around while with the Cavaliers, but he also turned people’s perceptions of him around. J.R. truly transformed his career while with the Wine & Gold.

Once the addition of the two ex-Knicks was made official, Cleveland began rolling. They finished the regular season with a 34-9 record and reached the NBA Playoffs as the East’s No. 2 seed. In his 46 regular season games with the Cavaliers that season, Smith would average 12.6 points and connect on 39.0 percent of his three-point attempts.

However, in the deciding game of the Cavaliers 2015 first-round series, J.R. would commit his first big blunder in Cleveland. He would connect with a right-hand swing that took down the Boston Celtics’ Jae Crowder. Smith would go on to receive a two-game suspension for his actions.

Luckily Smith would have a chance to redeem himself in that same postseason. Against the 60-win Atlanta Hawks, J.R. would provide some much-needed firepower as he cashed in on eight three-point attempts in that Eastern Conference Finals Game 1.

But arguably the best year for J.R. was the 2015-16 season.