Cleveland Cavaliers: To get picks in Smith deals, Cavs must eat salary

The Cleveland Cavaliers and J.R. Smith have to part ways at this point, but in order for that to happen, they’ll have to eat the salary of unfavorable contracts to acquire future draft picks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t going to get a fully-engaged J.R. Smith going forward, with the team likely shifting toward rebuilding this season and in the near future. Initially the Cleveland Cavaliers and then-head coach Tyronn Lue were focused on competing for an Eastern Conference postseason birth this season, but if they are realistic, that’s not happening anymore. Cleveland then started the season 0-6, fired Lue, and are now just 1-7, and don’t even have their situation settled yet with current “voice,” (and not formal interim head coach), Larry Drew. Now with Smith saying to reporters, per Sporting News’ Jordan Heck, that he wants to be traded, the team has to unload him if they can get future draft picks.

I give credit to Smith for his transparency, really. “Swish” is never shy about shooting his shot, and this was no exception. He might be fired for it, unfortunately for him, though, per Heck (in response to a tweet from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski).

So how should Cleveland resolve this Smith ordeal? Owner Dan Gilbert needs to be willing to take on bad contracts from other teams in order for the Cavs to accumulate future draft picks for the next few seasons.

The Cavaliers have some players to build around in Cedi Osman, Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr. and potentially Rodney Hood (if he and Cleveland agree to a long-term deal next summer), but they need to fill in the rest of the roster with mostly younger players.

According to Real GM, the Cavs have the fifth-oldest roster in the NBA, and the 33 year-old Smith is a guy that plays into that narrative of them needing to go younger.

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz threw out a few trades that Cleveland could explore in regards to Smith. The one that seemed the most realistic to me involved Solomon Hill of the New Orleans Pelicans being packaged with the teams’ 2019 second-round pick. He broke that down, and highlighted how Hill’s not a cheap add, and how Smith could help space the floor in New Orleans.

"“Hill has struggled off the bench thus far, putting up 3.1 points on 27.6 percent shooting. He’s still owed over $12 million this year and nearly $13 million next year, a high price to pay for such little production.Moving Smith to New Orleans gives the Pelicans another wing scorer to help balance out their starting point guard and power forward/center play. Smith would be an upgrade over Hill as an outside shooter next to Davis for a team that ranks 25th in three-point attempts.”"

This is the route that should appeal most to the Cavs; they need to start getting more draft picks for the near future, and not have to bank on themselves having to tank so they get to keep protected picks (like in the case with 2019’s Atlanta Hawks’ top ten protected first-round pick).

To make things even more clear, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that Smith won’t “ask for or accept a buyout,” (h/t Bleacher Report’s Tim Daniels).

So if Smith won’t accept a buyout, the Cavs will have to move him via trade. Keeping him in Cleveland is just a waste of a roster spot at this point, especially if he’s not going to even play.

A way Cleveland could snag a first-round pick is by packaging Smith with Cavs sharpshooter Kyle Korver (who’s reportedly being shopped) or them both being involved in a three-team trade to make the salaries work better. Korver should definitely appeal to contenders as he’s fourth all-time in three-pointers made.

With Smith being a career 37.3 percent shooter from three-point land, the two could make a nice pairing for a team or at least give a contending team some pop by themselves.

With Korver included in a deal, Cleveland could definitely be able to snag a future first-round pick, or potentially multiple picks with Smith included.

Nonetheless, with Smith’s value being diminished in the last two seasons, with him having his two lowest PER’s of his career (per Basketball Reference), the Cavs have to be realistic.

Getting picks should be the goal, and even though it will take some cash, they have to do it. This sort of thing would get the rebuilding ball rolling in a positive way.