J.R. Smith has been in the news for a couple of months now. He is headlining the unending fuss with regard to his relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Until now, he hasn't signed any contract with them and it seems like that he has no plan to talk to the team at all.
It's no doubt that Smith has been instrumental for the Cavs' NBA championship last season. He has been one of the consistent players during the playoffs up to the Finals, averaging 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. He was also assigned to defend one prolific scorer, Klay Thompson, during the Finals, which some says were one of the keys to Cavs' success.
And now that Smith hasn't made up his mind, the Cavs are reportedly looking to trade him and hopefully get a good replacement in return. According to ChattSportsNet.com, a possible trade scenario that could happen is to send Smith to the Lakers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson.
Smith is reportedly asking for USD 15 million per year but the Cavs could only give USD 10-11 million per season as per stated in the report. Some sources are saying that the Cavs offered Smith a three-year contract worth USD 42-million with a partial guarantee for the fourth year. But Smith seems turned down the offer and allegedly asking some more.
On the separate report by Sportsrageous, the Lakers are also interested in acquiring Smith and willing to trade Clarkson for him. Clarkson has averaged 15.5 points, 4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.2 minutes per game in all of the games he has started last season. However, Lakers new head coach Luke Walton already announce that Clarkson will not be a starter and will come off the bench this season.
However, Walton cleared that this is not a demotion for Clarkson and said it is part of the game plan for them. Walton further describes Clarkson's situation by comparing it to Lamar Odom and Manu Ginobili set-up while playing as bench players that succeeded.
As long as Smith doesn't sign with the Cavs, the rumors on him will be non-stop. Will he be able to sign up before being traded? Or its time for him to move on to the Lakers?
