Why the Cleveland Cavaliers Should Bother Re-Signing J.R. Smith

J.R. Smith was downright awful in the NBA Finals when the Cleveland Cavaliers needed him most. Before that, slapping Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder cost him two games later in a critical second-round series against the Chicago Bulls.

Re-signing Smith would likely cost more than the $6.4 million contract he opted out of, then also carry serious luxury-tax implications with the Cavaliers already so far over the salary cap.

Smith would also likely be headed back to a reserve role, given the Cavs already inked shooting guard Iman Shumpert to a four-year, $40 million deal.

Despite all the reasons to move on from Smith, there are far more to support re-signing the athletic, and sometimes eccentric, former Sixth Man of the Year.

Cleveland absolutely needs to bring Smith back despite what doubters may say.

J.R Was Terrible in the Finals! Why Would the Cavs Still Want Him After That?

The Finals may have left a poor taste in many people's mouths, but the games were far from an accurate illustration of Smith's six months on the Cavaliers.

Smith wasn't just a nice complementary piece, but rather one of the Cavs' best overall players following a trade from the New York Knicks on Jan. 5.

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

The 29-year-old averaged 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and shot 39.0 percent from deep. He was the perfect fit alongside LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, serving as a floor-spacer and quick trigger who could bail Cleveland out on offense no matter how little time was left on the shot clock.

While his spark-plug offense wasn't a surprise, Smith's new-found focus to defense was. The Cavaliers scored 3.3 more points per 100 possessions with Smith in the game and conceded 2.4 fewer. Smith's net rating of plus-7.1 was fourth on the tean, higher than Irving's (plus-6.5) and Love's (plus-6.6).

Perhaps Smith's most valuable skill is his catch-and-shoot ability from three. He converted 41.4 percent of such opportunities, good for 13th in the NBA (minimum three attempts per game).

While Shumpert took over the starting shooting guard duties during the final three rounds of the playoffs, Smith is by far the better offensive fit for the opening unit. If Cleveland feels it needs Shumpert's defense to begin the game, Smith has shown he's comfortable with a reserve role as well.

The 2012-13 Sixth Man of the Year, Smith was arguably the Cavaliers' second-best player in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks. In four games off the bench, Smith averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while knocking down 47.1 percent of his three-pointers.

Leading up to the Finals, the Cavaliers were 47-8 over their last 55 games for which Smith suited up. During that stretch, Cleveland was 1-2 in games he sat, including the two-game playoff suspension.

With so many other storylines surrounding the team, it's easy to forget Smith's inspiring play was one of the most positive and important factors behind the Cavs' late-season success.

OK, but Doesn't He Hurt the Locker Room? (It Is J.R. Smith After All)

Go ahead and try to find one bad word a teammate has spoken about Smith during his time in Cleveland.

Smith was, by all accounts, a perfect teammate and locker-room influence with the Cavaliers. His locker was strategically placed between young guards Irving and Matthew Dellavedova, and just two spots from James.

Lately, James has been voicing his support for a return from Smith, whom he seemed to grow close to in their months together.

"It's been good so far, but we have a lot of work to do," James recently told Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "We still got to re-sign Tristan [Thompson]. Hopefully we can bring back J.R. [Smith] as well and see if there [are] some other free agents out there that'd love to come here and play if we're able to do that."

Smith always seemed to be present in postgame pictures, especially with James.

Now approaching 30 and taming his former party habits, Smith seems to be focused exclusively on basketball while being a great teammate in the process.

The Cavs No Longer Need Smith's Offense from the Guard Position, right?

Getting Mo Williams back was a great job by general manager David Griffin. The 32-year-old free agent point guard is the perfect person to run the second-team offense and relieve Dellavedova of big minutes.

That being said, the Cavs know Williams is at his best, both on offense and defense, at the point. He's just 6'1" and 185 pounds, which is hardly shooting guard size. Almost 90 percent of his 23,124 career minutes have been spent at point guard. Williams will orchestrate the offense when James and Irving need a break, but only serve as a spot-up shooter like Smith when surrounded by stars.

In other words, while both are talented shooters, Williams and Smith will be used in completely different ways.

As for Joe Harris, the 23-year-old will hopefully have a bright future ahead of him, because the present isn't looking so good.

Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

Appearing in 51 games as a rookie last season—although it didn't seem that much—Harris averaged 2.7 points in 9.7 minutes per night. He split his time with the Cavaliers' D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, and he was inactive during much of the postseason. Unable to find a rhythm anywhere, Harris put up 14.1 points on just 26.1 percent shooting from deep during 11 games in Canton.

Now the seasoned veteran of the Cavs' summer-league team, Harris has continued to struggle.

During their first two games—both losses—Harris averaged 7.0 points and 1.5 assists while shooting 20.0 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from deep. He should be separating himself from the rest of the roster, one that will only yield a few NBA players. Instead, Harris is struggling with his shooting and doesn't appear close to playing a major role on a team with championship aspirations.

Smith can produce now, which means everything to the Cavaliers with their limited title window.

OK, but How Can the Capped-Out Cavs Afford Him? 

David Liam Kyle/Getty Images

Majority owner Dan Gilbert is committed to spending if it helps bring a title, no matter the cost.

The Cavaliers are already $30 million over the salary cap, even without signing Tristan Thompson and Smith. The good news, of course, is that teams can continue to go over as long as they re-sign their own players.

This means the Cavs can still afford to bring Smith back, even at more than the $6.4 million deal he opted out of. Something in the $7 million to $8 million range over a two- or three-year span seems fair, given his production last season.

The only concern with taking on Smith's salary is the luxury-tax implications it would bring. With Cleveland dipping so far into the tax already, signing Smith adds tens of millions of dollars in tax penalties alone, noted Jacob Rosen of WFNY:

Cleveland can sign Smith back as long as Gilbert agrees to the spike in cost.

There's also the ability to structure Smith's deal into an attractive trade asset. The Cavaliers felt good about their roster heading into last season but still made moves to acquire Brendan Haywood's expiring non-guaranteed deal and create a trade exception out of Keith Bogans' contract. Cleveland also had Dion Waiters as trade bait.

Looking ahead, if the Cavs need help sometime during the season, there are not a lot of pieces to be moved. They owe their 2016 first-round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns and certainly won't part with James, Love or Irving. Should Griffin give Smith something along the lines of a two-year, $14 million contract that includes a team option, it would give Cleveland another opportunity to improve the team if needed (though finding J.R. Smith trade partners could get tricky).

The luxury tax is the only thing that could potentially keep the Cavs from re-signing Smith at this point. He was just too good in the regular season and fits both the starting unit and reserve group extremely well.

"With J.R., I wouldn't want to characterize the discussion or anything, but he's a player I'd like to have back," Griffin said, relayed by Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "We just have to find a way to make it work."

Cleveland would be wise to bring Smith back, even with the tremendous financial cost.

Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010. Follow him on Twitter: @CavsGregBR

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