Although the NBA preseason has begun, and the first regular season game is this month, there is still one very interesting free agent on the market. J.R. Smith declined a $10-$11 million dollar deal from the Cavaliers, and now the Cavs have filled their last roster spot with Toney Douglas, who signed a training camp deal. So it is still possible for J.R. to remain a Cav, because the Cavs have two guaranteed contracts left for this season, but they would have to cut a player to sign him. The money the Cavs offered J.R. is the best they can do, so it is unlikely J.R. will return if given the chance again, because he already declined their best offer. Is J.R. Smith worth more than $10-$11 million? Now that he is likely moving on, who should take a shot at signing him?

J.R. Smith started all 77 games he played for the Cavs, and played his role well. He averaged 12.4 points, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 2.8 rebounds, 0.3 blocks, and only 0.8 turnovers a game, while averaging 30.7 minutes per a game. He shot an impressive 40% from the three and 43.8% from the field. J.R.’s stat line doesn’t stand out much, but like I said, he is filling his role. Playing besides LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, Smith isn’t expected to drop twenty a game. He’s a solid three-and-D player who, when hot, is extremely dangerous. After looking at the money given out this free agency, I can easily say J.R. Smith is worth more than $11 million, but not too much more. He is now 31 years old, and is very streaky, so I would value J.R. Smith at around $15 million, and wouldn’t sign him for more than two years. Many believe it is disrespectful of the Cavs to not sign Smith back after helping them win a championship, but how much did Smith really help? His stats in the playoffs are almost identical to his in the regular season, but he did fill his role very well. However, at the end of the day, Smith is replaceable. The Cavs won a championship, because they have LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and Tristian Thompson in their starting lineup, not because of J.R. Smith. There are many three-point specialist in the NBA, and plenty more consistent, and younger, than Smith. The Cavs have three stars on their team, so they can’t afford to use a large amount of cap on J.R. Smith. If Smith wanted to win another ring that badly, he should’ve taken the pay cut, because he is the fifth best player on the Cavs starting five. It wouldn’t be that large of a pay cut for Smith either, because like I said, he isn’t worth much more than $11 million. Essentially, the Cavs can survive without Smith, and are in no way disrespecting him by not offering him a large amount of money, because they have one goal; winning another championship. If Smith can’t cooperate and compromise with the Cavs front office, then he isn’t worth their hassle.

Now that Smith is very likely not starting this season as a Cav, what teams should go after him? One team that should pursue Smith is the Timberwolves. Smith would likely not start behind a young, talented Zach Lavine with tons of potential, but could serve as a valuable sixth man, coming off the bench with rookie Kris Dunn. The Timberwolves lack depth at the guard position, so adding J.R. Smith would help add the necessary depth Minnesota needs to make the jump into playoffs in the super competitive west. The difficult part about this is the Timberwolves would likely have to convince Smith in negotiations to accept a role as a sixth man, which would be a big demotion for Smith from last year, starting on a championship team. He would now be the sixth man on a team that didn’t even make playoffs.

The only other team that can and should offer Smith a contract over $11 million is the Phoenix Suns. The suns don’t have a starting five talented enough to compete in the west, (or even the east) and also lack depth. The Suns recently announced Brandon knight will be coming off the bench, and if they signed Smith, he could come off with Knight, making a solid backcourt coming off the bench. The team would likely not make the playoffs, but adding Smith would greatly improve their chances, and they might as well use the rest of their cap space. They could possibly lock Smith down for more than one year by offering a lot of money in the second year of the contract, which would be one more piece they don’t have to try and add next summer. If they sign him to a one-year deal and end up tanking, they could use Smith as a valuable trade piece around the trade deadline to help them rebuild. It would be very difficult for the suns to acquire Smith, but Smith has shown us he wants his money, so maybe it isn’t as unlikely as it seems.

Now that Smith has declined his offer from the Cavs, and the Cavs have shown signs they are moving on by filling their 20-man training camp roster signing Toney Douglas, Smith has very limited options. Most teams have negative cap space left, and/or the maximum 15 guaranteed contracts. Most Teams with the cap space and roster space to sign Smith are rebuilding, so a slightly above average 31 year-old isn’t too appealing. I believe Smith should sit down and negotiate with the Cavs to get that $11 million deal back on the table, because free agency is over, but I do understand where Smith is coming from. His career can end tomorrow due to injury. All players should make their money while they can, and every penny on that contract counts, but if Smith doesn’t swallow his pride, he may not make a dime this year playing in the NBA. I have a feeling Smith won’t be without a team for long, so we will see if he does swallow his pride and get that deal back with the Cavs, or if he chooses money.