Cavaliers Will Attempt To Trade J.R. Smith In June

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:18 pm

The Cleveland Cavaliers will not buyout J.R. Smith before the deadline as they have every intention of attempting to trade him in June.

Smith signed a four-year, $57 million contract with the Cavaliers in 2016 with just $3.8 million of his $15.6 million salary for 19-20 guaranteed.

Because the Cavaliers are well over the luxury tax line, there is little incentive to agree to a buyout with Smith at a reduced figure.

Via Joe Vardon/The Athletic

kuclas · Post #2 » by **kuclas** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:26 pm

Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

mplsfonz23 · Post #3 » by **mplsfonz23** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:29 pm

Good luck with that.
They are in cap hell. Never let a player be the GM.

MaxRider · Post #4 » by **MaxRider** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:52 pm

getting paid and don't have to work
so good

Am2626 · Post #5 » by **Am2626** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 5:05 pm

kuclas wrote:Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

That’s a good point. The double standards are ridiculous. The NBA has no level of consistency when they deal with things like this.

ccvle · Post #6 » by **ccvle** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:15 pm

Am2626 wrote:
kuclas wrote:Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

That’s a good point. The double standards are ridiculous. The NBA has no level of consistency when they deal with things like this.

Smith agreed to stay away from the team....

tidho · Post #7 » by **tidho** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:26 pm

mplsfonz23 wrote:Good luck with that.
They are in cap hell. Never let a player be the GM.

What are you talking about? They're under the repeater tax and only Love and Nance are signed (team options on Zizic and Sexton) beyond next season.

kuclas · Post #8 » by **kuclas** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:29 pm

ccvle wrote:
Am2626 wrote:
kuclas wrote:Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

That’s a good point. The double standards are ridiculous. The NBA has no level of consistency when they deal with things like this.

Smith agreed to stay away from the team....

And I'm sure AD would agree to stay away from the Pelicans and not play. The pelicans don't want to even play AD but league is forcing them and they are playing AD 20 minutes a game. They don't want AD getting hurt. Best way is not to play him at all.

statsman · Post #9 » by **statsman** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:37 pm

RealGM Wiretap wrote:Because the Cavaliers are well over the luxury tax line, there is little incentive to agree to a buyout with Smith at a reduced figure.

I am going to assume they mean for the projected 2019-20 season, because for this season, the Cavs are just under the luxury tax threshold.

Dave_From_NB · Post #10 » by **Dave_From_NB** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:58 pm

kuclas wrote:Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

Cavs would probably be fined for flagrant tanking if they played Smith.

mplsfonz23 · Post #11 » by **mplsfonz23** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:01 pm

tidho wrote:
mplsfonz23 wrote:Good luck with that.
They are in cap hell. Never let a player be the GM.

What are you talking about? They're under the repeater tax and only Love and Nance are signed (team options on Zizic and Sexton) beyond next season.

I am talking about next year.
Bron played GM and got all his guys signed to stupid money, and now all they have to show for it is a washed up Love, and Nance.

Now in a couple of years they will be str8.

mg · Post #12 » by mg » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:10 pm

ccvle wrote:
Am2626 wrote:
kuclas wrote:Shouldn't the NBA be fining the Cavaliers 100K a game sitting out a supposedly healthy JR Smith. That's what they threatened to do to New Orleans for sitting out Anthony Davis.

That’s a good point. The double standards are ridiculous. The NBA has no level of consistency when they deal with things like this.

Smith agreed to stay away from the team....

Exactly Smith didn't want to play for a lottery team and was even bad mouthing the kids including Sexton to the media.
Smith prefers a playoff team but too bad none of those teams prefer him. His only value is as a nonguaranteed conntract. Some team looking to dump a contract before free agency will probably trade for him around the draft. He'll be lucky to get vet min after he's bought out.

basketballwacko2 · Post #13 » by **basketballwacko2** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:25 pm

Was Smith's contract signed before the new CBA? If not if they trade him after the beginning of the 2019-20 season in July he will only count for the part of his salary that is guaranteed.

DBoys · Post #14 » by **DBoys** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:39 pm

"Because the Cavaliers are well over the luxury tax line, there is little incentive to agree to a buyout with Smith at a reduced figure."

This is a total fail of a statement.

The Cavs are not over the tax line this year. And them being over the tax line next season has absolutely no impact on whether or not they would desire to buy out (which means "we will waive you and let you be a free agent at a reduced guarantee") the contract with Smith.

Clearly they would do a buyout in a heartbeat - - if Smith would agree.

The impediment? He apparently has no incentive to agree. There is already a reduced $3.87M price tag to waive him in June. Why would he negotiate that lower in a buy out? So they will undoubtedly waive him (rather than pay him almost $16M), and he will be gone.

They do have an angle to entice him to a possible buyout this season, which would be making him a free agent NOW, and letting him sign with a team to help in playoffs. They can ask him to reduce the guarantee next year, in exchange for being free now rather than in June. But does he have any real shot at a team wanting him? That's the REAL issue, not the Cavs tax situation.

The Laker Kid · Post #15 » by **The Laker Kid** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:54 pm

Magic scrambling to find his phone

JonFromVA · Post #16 » by **JonFromVA** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:20 pm

That's because JR has special value that kicks in around June.

I'm not sure how many times I've had to explain this, but one more time for those who care:

The NBA rules have changed regarding non-fully-guaranteed contracts in that only the guaranteed amount counts when matching salary in a trade. JR Smith, however, has a contract that predates this rule change and is unaffected by it.

So if a team needs to dump about $12M in salary this Summer (for whatever reason) they can trade for JR and give the Cavs something to make it worth their while.

Once that windows closes? JR will be released by the Cavs and they'll eat the remaining guaranteed money.

dice · Post #17 » by **dice** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:38 pm

mplsfonz23 wrote:
tidho wrote:
mplsfonz23 wrote:Good luck with that.
They are in cap hell. Never let a player be the GM.

What are you talking about? They're under the repeater tax and only Love and Nance are signed (team options on Zizic and Sexton) beyond next season.

I am talking about next year.
Bron played GM and got all his guys signed to stupid money, and now all they have to show for it is a washed up Love, and Nance.

Now in a couple of years they will be str8.

1) kevin love is only 30 years old and played very well last season
2) the cavs are better off going forward than the wolves

mplsfonz23 · Post #18 » by **mplsfonz23** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:54 pm

dice wrote:
mplsfonz23 wrote:
tidho wrote:What are you talking about? They're under the repeater tax and only Love and Nance are signed (team options on Zizic and Sexton) beyond next season.

I am talking about next year.
Bron played GM and got all his guys signed to stupid money, and now all they have to show for it is a washed up Love, and Nance.

Now in a couple of years they will be str8.

1) kevin love is only 30 years old and played very well last season
2) the cavs are better off going forward than the wolves

Played well???? I guess you are talking about 2017-2018 when he only missed 20 plus games, or this season and his 50 plus missed games? You may be better off with cap space, but with Love taking up a big chunk of it and missing games every year while his stats decline, I don't see it the way you do. Wiggins might be awful, but he stays healthy, and there is still hope he can turn the corner.

We still have Towns, and that is better than anything the Cavs have. Better hit big in the lotto.

Pickled Prunes · Post #19 » by **Pickled Prunes** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:15 pm

mplsfonz23 wrote:
dice wrote:
mplsfonz23 wrote:
I am talking about next year.
Bron played GM and got all his guys signed to stupid money, and now all they have to show for it is a washed up Love, and Nance.

Now in a couple of years they will be str8.

1) kevin love is only 30 years old and played very well last season
2) the cavs are better off going forward than the wolves

Played well???? I guess you are talking about 2017-2018 when he only missed 20 plus games, or this season and his 50 plus missed games? You may be better off with cap space, but with Love taking up a big chunk of it and missing games every year while his stats decline, I don't see it the way you do. Wiggins might be awful, but he stays healthy, and there is still hope he can turn the corner.

We still have Towns, and that is better than anything the Cavs have. Better hit big in the lotto.

Love had the best TS% of his career last season and (without Lebron using him as a spot-up shooter) he is back in the paint collecting rebounds at a similar clip to his MIN days. His slow return and limited minutes are by design at this point, but I expect him to shake of the rust by next training camp. And his contract doesn't really matter because they need to be above the salary floor during the rebuild.

Wiggins on the other hand is an anchor around KAT's neck. MIN really does need the cap space they don't have.

mplsfonz23 · Post #20 » by **mplsfonz23** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:39 pm

Pickled Prunes wrote:
mplsfonz23 wrote:
dice wrote:1) kevin love is only 30 years old and played very well last season
2) the cavs are better off going forward than the wolves

Played well???? I guess you are talking about 2017-2018 when he only missed 20 plus games, or this season and his 50 plus missed games? You may be better off with cap space, but with Love taking up a big chunk of it and missing games every year while his stats decline, I don't see it the way you do. Wiggins might be awful, but he stays healthy, and there is still hope he can turn the corner.

We still have Towns, and that is better than anything the Cavs have. Better hit big in the lotto.

Love had the best TS% of his career last season and (without Lebron using him as a spot-up shooter) he is back in the paint collecting rebounds at a similar clip to his MIN days. His slow return and limited minutes are by design at this point, but I expect him to shake of the rust by next training camp. And his contract doesn't really matter because they need to be above the salary floor during the rebuild.

Wiggins on the other hand is an anchor around KAT's neck. MIN really does need the cap space they don't have.

Fine. Use any excuse you want. I KNOW Wiggins is a stiff and will probably not get better. But keep holding on to a washed up, ALWAYS injured Love and justify his salary as floor filler. He still has 4 years at 30 million so good luck with that.
As far as cap space, Wolves have never used it wisely, so it doesn't bother us like you think it does.
And if it wasn't for your home grown product, the Cavs would still be irrelevant since Kemp. Pretty sure nobody will want to go to Cleveland no matter how much cap space you have.