J.R. Smith has walked the plank of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ sinking ship but he won’t jump.
The Cavs forward no longer is active with the team, having decided to step away while he waits for Cleveland to trade him, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reported Tuesday, citing an NBA source. Smith was a key player for the Cavs as recently as last season, but his role has diminished, and his frustration has grown to the point where he now wants out.
Smith, 33, is incensed because he believes the Cavs intended to tank this season, despite signaling the opposite to their players and rival teams last summer. Cleveland’s rebuild began in earnest just two weeks into the season when they fired head coach Tyronn Lue.
“I don’t think the goal is to win,” Smith told The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd on Tuesday. “The goal isn’t to go out there and try to get as many wins as you can. I think the goal is to develop and lose to get lottery picks. I think that was always the plan.”
The Cavs hasten Smith’s formal departure from Cleveland if he accepts their offer to buy out his contract, which will pay him $14.7 million this season but just under $4 million in 2018-19, per Spotrac. But he doesn’t intend to end his tenure with the team that way.
“I don’t want my legacy to be remembered like that in Cleveland,” Smith said. “I don’t think that’s fair to the people I see every single day walking around the arena. I don’t think that’s fair to the trainers or equipment guys. … I just look at it differently than being traded. I don’t like the statement of getting bought out.”
Given Smith’s stance and the Cavs’ willingness to sail on without him, we only can expect his exile to drag on for weeks or months to come.
