Just hours after it had was reported that Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith reiterated his desire to be traded from the team, Joe Vardon of The Athletic is reporting that Smith will no longer be with the Cavs.
JR Smith will no longer be actively with the Cavs, a league source tells me. He is working with the team to trade him, and in the meantime will work out on his own
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) November 20, 2018
Smith, 33, publicly rebuked the Cavs’ plans of tanking, even though the team had promised its players that it would be competing for a playoff spot this season. Cavs point guard George Hill backed Smith’s sentiment as he said that the organization knew what it was doing all along.
“I think it recalibrated before Game 1 was even played,” Hill said. “In the summer, it felt like politically you have to say we can still do these things because you want everyone to buy in to being here. Once everybody is here, I don’t know. The directions change.”
The organization will continue to look to trade Smith as it released the statement below:
“The organization wishes J.R. and his family well and appreciates and thanks him for his contributions in the community, to the team and his role in the 2016 NBA Championship.”
