Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season

3. J.R. Smith has his best season as a Cavalier

Last season was one to forget for Smith.

Midway through the Cavaliers’ defense of their 2016 NBA championship, Smith went down with a fractured shooting thumb and missed 36 consecutive games. But even before he went down, Smith struggled mightily, averaging 8.6 points in 28.9 minutes per game, which included shooting at just a 33.7 clip overall from the field.

When he returned, his numbers didn’t improve, finishing the season averaging 8.6 points in 29.0 minutes per game. The only real encouraging aspect was his 3-point shooting, converting at a decent 35.1 percent clip on 6.6 attempts per game.

But it was clear overall that a combination of a championship hangover, and missing a significant chunk of the season, had a significant affect on Smith’s game. Possibly the most heartening stretch off his season didn’t occur until the final three games of the Cavaliers’ unsuccessful NBA Finals series.

Smith, like most of the Cavaliers’ roster, started the series dreadfully, averaging just 1.5 points in 21.5 minutes per game over the initial two games of the series. But to his credit, Smith made amends for this awful start, posting 18.7 points per game on an outstanding 63.0 percent shooting clip from downtown from there.

Smith’s Game 5 performance against the Warriors was clearly the highlight of his season, notching 25 points on an amazing 7-of-8 shooting from long range.

Soon to turn 32, Smith is clearly a streaky shooter, and therefore a confidence player. So with the knowledge that he finished off the Finals series in such a manner, this will do his confidence no harm at all entering the upcoming season.

Therefore, Cavaliers fans should be one the lookout for somewhat of a comeback season for Smith in 2017-18.