Cleveland Cavaliers: Team has reportedly gotten calls about J.R. Smith

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly gotten calls about J.R. Smith, due to the structure of his contract.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely be really busy this offseason. They have five players whose contracts are going to expiring after the 2019-20 season, and as we’ve discussed, they have a player currently on their salary cap sheet that should have trade value in the next two or so months in J.R. Smith.

General manager Koby Altman addressed that situation in an end-of-season press conference on Friday, and noted how (according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops’ league sources), he has “already received some trade calls about Smith.”

We’ve hit on the details surrounding Smith’s contract often, and it’s the reason why he should be a nice trade asset for Altman and company likely around the time of the 2019 NBA Draft in late June.

Smith is only guaranteed to make $3.87 million next year (per Spotrac), and is also expiring at the end of next season, for the record.

That team-friendly contract structure for the veteran is the reason he’ll likely warrant significant trade interest.

Amico then detailed how Smith’s contract, tied in with Cleveland likely taking back more additional payroll, could bring in a key asset for the near future, and if they can’t get a deal done by June 30 (the date of his contract being fully guaranteed), then they could just cut their losses.

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"“For the Cavs, yes, a Smith trade would mean taking salary back. But guess what else it would mean? It would mean another first-round pick. At least, that’s one theory. Without that, there would be little reason for the Cavs to trade Smith. They could just waive him and eat the $4 million themselves.”"

In regards to potential trade suitors for the non-guaranteed contract of Smith, Amico would then go on to mention how the Boston Celtics could be in play, considering they have “three first-rounders” this year, and also hit on how the San Antonio Spurs could be in play as well, considering they “have two.”

Smith’s play last season is not going to be the reason he’ll warrant significant trade interest, realistically.

This past season, though it was only an 11-game sample size (per Basketball Reference), Smith only put up 6.7 points per game on just 41.8% effective field goal shooting (including a 30.8% clip from three-point range).

That being said, he has proven to have postseason value to contending teams due to his pedigree as a perimeter shooter, particularly in a spot-up capacity.

For his career, Smith’s shot 37.3% on 5.3 attempts per game, and in the postseason, he’s shot 37.0% on 6.0 attempts per game (per Basketball Reference).

Next. Cavs: 3 takeaways from Altman's most recent presser. dark

Altman and the Cleveland Cavaliers will definitely be open-minded with the Smith situation, and I would think that could set up future moves down the road.