Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from reported waiving of J.R. Smith

#2: Smith will still be loved by many Cleveland fans and the Cavs appreciate him

It wasn’t the way I would’ve liked to have seen Smith go out as a Cavalier, in regards to him and the team reportedly mutually parting ways after he was active in just 11 games in 2018-19.

He wasn’t happy with the Cavs’ changed-to-rebuilding approach to their season after a horrendous start to the campaign, and Smith wasn’t having a good season himself, either, in mostly a bench role, as he had just 6.7 points per game on just 41.8% effective field goal shooting, which included a rough 30.8% hit rate from three-point range (per Basketball Reference).

Nonetheless, Smith’s contributions in the Cavs’ first two NBA Finals runs in the LeBron James “Return” Tour will never be forgotten, and his play in the 2016 NBA Finals win over the Warriors (and that postseason run in general), the Cavs’ only championship, especially (as our own Robbie DiPaola detailed) and his famed shirtless victory celebration that summer will always have the hearts of many Cavaliers fans.

In 79 postseason games with Cleveland, Smith did do pretty well from the perimeter, as he shot 40.6% from deep and had 10.2 points per game (per Basketball Reference), and his defense picked up, too, when it comes to chasing around opposing sharpshooters in key moments and contesting well.

For those contributions and the way he embraced The Land, the Cavs tweeted out their appreciation for Smith and the shirtless Smith came back in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game (courtesy of the Cleveland Indians’ Official Twitter).

This sort of thing will forever get the Cleveland people goin’.

That is the “Swish” I will (and so many more) always know and love when it comes to his Cleveland days.

On to takeaway number three.