J.R. Smith: More Than A Dion

By Joshua Howe | Jun 3, 2015

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) reacts during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

This is how bad J.R. Smith looked when he was in New York playing for the Knicks: Cleveland Cavaliers fans didn’t want to trade the virus that is Dion Waiters for him. And admittedly, I shrugged when I heard about the trade too. My initial thought was that Smith is a better shooter, so the trade was good.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

The trade was good. But much, much better than I, or many others, could’ve predicted. Smith was clearly miserable in New York playing with an injured Carmelo Anthony just trying to make it to the All-Star break and a bunch of young guns and D-League call-ups.

The Knicks finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and were only a single win better (17-65) than the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. But even that hardly matters. At least the ‘Wolves were and will continue to be fun to watch!

The Knicks tried to implement the triangle offense with the guidance of Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher, but the team simply didn’t run it properly and/or they weren’t good enough to make it work against other teams. Nearly all possessions ended with a ‘Melo isolation.

So it’s understandable to see Smith (and his former New York buddy, Iman Shumpert) playing much better and throwing small social-media jabs at his former club.

This will be the first time J.R. has ever made it to The Finals. Since arriving in Cleveland, he’s toned down his erratic personality and playing style and has bought in to the system and especially in LeBron James as a leader.

He’s been terrific in the playoffs so far, averaging 13.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals on 45.7 percent shooting from the floor and 39.6 percent shooting from downtown. He’s also shot a solid 80.0 percent from the foul line and is only playing 29.8 minutes a night.

His true shooting percentage is through the roof at 60.7 percent (a playoff career-high), which is nearly as good as Stephen Curry’s (61.5), while his usage percentage is at the lowest of his playoff career at 18.5. He no longer hogs the ball, trusts his teammates and makes the right passes.

As for his own shots, he mostly takes up spot-up or pull-up threes. His three-point attempt rate is at an insane 70.5 percent. Again, to compare with Curry (who’s known for his mind-boggling treys), the Golden State point guard has taken 52.7 percent of his shots from three during this postseason run.

Obviously, Curry takes more shots than Smith (he jacks up 11.1 three-pointers a game!!!), which makes his shooting percentages more impressive. Still, Smith’s are not to be underplayed.

He’s doing exactly what he was brought in to do and more.

If the Warriors chase him off the three-point line? Well, Smith shouldn’t be too worried about putting the ball on the floor. He hasn’t missed a single shot this postseason zero to three feet from the hoop.

That’s right, he’s shooting 100 percent from zero to three feet.

Since he takes so many threes, Smith drives rarely and thus he takes only 7 percent of his shots from that range. But it’s in his back pocket!

Of course, he takes his second-most attempts from 16 or more feet (somewhere Byron Scott is clapping), and has been scorching from there as well. He’s draining 62.5 percent of those shots, which basically means that when he dances on you in the mid-range, he’s going to embarrass you.

This is the J.R. Smith that everyone’s wanted to see for years. A focused, reliable player. He’s 29 years old. This may be his one and only shot at a title.

He’s as important as almost anyone else on this Cleveland team. They’ll need his scoring punch off the pine to win it all. They’ll need everything from him.

J.R. Smith has shown us his full range this season. The lows and the highs. He has certainly turned into something no one expected, but in the best way possible.

At the end of it all, Cleveland fans should be very pleased they didn’t acquire just another Dion.

Next: The Greatest Player In Every Franchise's History

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers