Cavaliers GM David Griffin said the team was open to re-signing J.R. Smith, under the right set of circumstances.
Smith declined his player option for next season, and is an unrestricted free agent. He wasn’t much help during the NBA Finals, where his 24-of-77 shooting over the course of the six-game series played a part in the team’s downfall against the Warriors.
After adding some guard depth in Mo Williams, it was worth wondering if the Cavaliers had moved on from their interest in retaining Smith. But the team is reportedly intent on bringing everyone from last year’s squad back if at all possible.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com:Sources say Cavs remain intent on signing restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova
Early indications are Cavs likewise have NOT abandoned JR Smith pursuit. They seem intent on keeping whole band together. And adding to it
The problem for the Cavaliers last season -- in addition to the obvious, which were the injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving that left the team extremely shorthanded -- was having “depth” that was incapable of providing anywhere close to a consistent level of production.
Mike Miller, Joe Harris, Brendan Haywood, Kendrick Perkins (and even James Jones to a certain extent) took up valuable spots on the roster, but weren’t trustworthy enough to earn significant playing time, when fatigue was clearly a factor during the championship series.
There are other moves that Cleveland is considering, like bringing in Jamal Crawford in trade from the Clippers. But it appears as though they’d like to bring back the rest of the guys who played heavy minutes in the rotation last season, too, as long as the price is right.
