The Cleveland Cavaliers have been looking for a shooting guard all summer. They have been linked to Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford but both of those trades fell through for various reasons. J.R. Smith is still a free agent and although a deal with him is reporedly just a matter of time he is not a lock to sign with the Cavaliers as they have reportedly re-opened discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers for Crawford.
Smith opted out of $6.4 million dollars earlier this offseason which did not make the Cavaliers all that happy. Smith now is trying to negotiate a contract with the Cavaliers for likely much less than the option would have been but it seems as though Cleveland has all of the leverage. Smith hasn't gotten much interest from other teams in the NBA and isn't likely to get much too as there aren't many teams that have cap room remaining.
With the Smith negotiations in limbo the Cavs have seemingly turned their attention to Crawford. The Clippers are willing to trade Crawford because they have beefed up their bench big time this offseason and Crawford is not a happy camper in Los Angeles right now as he has been in a lot of rumored trade talks. Trading Crawford would also save the Clippers around $16 million in luxury tax savings.
The Cavaliers have a very large trade exception of over $10 million from trading Brendan Haywood to the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this offseason which they could fit Crawford into. Crawford would reportedly want to play in Cleveland if a trade were to happen, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
Haynes said "I know Jamal personally, and I know he would definitely like to be a part of the Cavaliers' organization. Jamal is one guy off the top of my head that I know would be a fit, and I know that they'll be looking at him."
A trade between the Cavaliers and the Clippers is not imminent but it is certainly a nice alternative for Cleveland. They may end up just re-signing Smith but it is also possible that they are so fed up with Smith for opting out that they trade for Crawford and leave Smith to sign elsewhere. It is also a slight possibility that Cleveland brings both Crawford and Smith in but that is highly unlikely considering Cleveland is already cap strapped, so the most likely option is they choose one of them.
