Cleveland Cavaliers: J.R. Smith Or Jamal Crawford?

J.R. Smith is still an unrestricted free agent. In a way, it’s hard to believe no team has offered him a contract to come in and either be a scorer off the bench or even a starter. Still being a free agent with no offers will only help for the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ cause because they may be able to get him back for cheap.

After being traded from the New York Knicks midway through the season, Smith averaged 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game with the Cavs.

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Smith was a big reason the Cavaliers were able to win a few games in the NBA Finals against Golden State, other than LeBron James‘ historical performances, of course.

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Through the six games, he connected on 15 three-point shots. With no Love or Irving, Smith was the only player who could threaten the defense with his range. James Jones is also a lethal shooter from outside, but Smith got significantly more time and possessed the ball more than Jones.

Although Smith does have the ability to fill it up quite quickly from three, he forces many of his attempts. Since he came into the league, Smith has been criticized routinely for being a player who throws up crazy shots that aren’t in the flow of the offense. Those types of decisions are magnified in the playoffs because each possession is so crucial to a team’s success.

Smith’s effort on the defensive side of the ball usually depends on whether or not he is getting involved offensively. If he isn’t getting shots at the rim, expecting him to have an impact defensively on a guy like Klay Thompson is self-destruction in the eyes of a coach.

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That being said, Smith already knows the system that LeBron likes to run in Cleveland. The system may undergo some changes since it wasn’t enough to win the championship, but the concept of the ball being dominated by LeBron is likely to be the same next season.

Jamal Crawford has been rumored to be in trade talks with the Cavaliers. Dan Feldman of NBCSports.com reports that Crawford would be in favor of the move as well. Playing for the Cavaliers alongside of LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love would give Crawford a shot to play for a championship every year. The Los Angeles Clippers have just finished putting together a very impressive offseason with the re-signing of DeAndre Jordan and also acquiring Paul Pierce and Lance Stephenson.

But in the Western Conference, even the Clippers’ roster may not be enough to get them by teams like the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. On the Cavaliers, Crawford would be put in the same role he’s been in for his entire career: scoring off the bench. Last season he averaged 15.8 points and 2.5 assists per game.

Playing with point guard Chris Paul makes Crawford used to playing off the ball and having to catch-and-shoot as he would expected to be playing with LeBron and Irving.

In comparison to Smith, Crawford is able to create open shots for himself with his silky smooth handling of the basketball. He does it in such a way that the offense still looks in flow, unlike Smith.

On defense, Crawford is always active and he averaged 1.7 steals per game last season. If he isn’t getting involved offensively, he may be more aggressive on defense in hopes to get a steal for an easy bucket that would help his confidence.

One statistic that sticks out is Crawford’s success in the pick-and-roll compared to Smith’s. Last season Crawford scored 231 points to Smith’s 84 off pick-and-roll sets. Crawford’s ability to handle the ball allows him to breakdown the defense off this type of set and allows plenty of options. In the NBA, pick-and-roll sets are used pretty much every possession, and if Crawford came off the bench for the Cavaliers it would ensure production in that sense.

No matter who the Cavaliers decide to go for, they are getting a high-caliber player. Both guys have won the Sixth Man of the Year Award during their careers, so both are comfortable coming off the bench and producing. When breaking down both players’ games, Crawford would ultimately be the better fit.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be expected to be the team to represent in the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. The biggest reason being, obviously, that they have the best player in the game in LeBron James.

But throughout the years of constant championship expectations of whichever team LeBron plays for, NBA fans have seen him miss four out of the six times to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in June. It’s safe to say that in an era of the game where so much is rested on the superstar of a team, it is the role players who ultimately determine whether or not the team is championship worthy.

In this year’s Finals it was evident. Already heading into a tough series against the Warriors, the Cavaliers were without their star forward Kevin Love. In Game 1, Kyrie Irving suffered a knee injury that would eliminate him from playing the rest of the series. It all fell on LeBron’s shoulders and the Warriors were too strong and deep as a team.

The loss in the Finals raises the question of how the Cavaliers can not only get back, but finish the job. Of course, having Love and Irving will make a world of a difference, but as we saw in Miami, LeBron has still come up short with two All-Star players next to him.

The next thing on the championship team list for success is role and bench player performance. They have already addressed the back-up point guard position with the signing of Mo Williams, now the focus turns to re-signing Tristan Thompson and deciding between J.R. Smith or Jamal Crawford.

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