J.R. wanted Lue to bench him before trade rumors turned season around
Like the majority of his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates, J.R. Smith found himself mired in one of the worst, most prolonged slumps of his career in the first half of this season.
Smith started the year in a reserve role in deference to Dwyane Wade, but was quickly promoted to the starting lineup when Wade struggled out of the gate. He remained a starter through his struggles, but considered telling head coach Tyronn Lue that a change needed to be made.
"There were times when I wanted to go to (Lue) and be like, 'Listen, man, I'm not playing well. Why not take me out?'" Smith told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "Fortunately, I didn't and just stuck with it."
The Cavs gave Smith a new four-year, $57-million contract - at the urging of his teammate and fellow Klutch Sports client LeBron James - in the fall of 2016, months after Cleveland had won the NBA title. But as the team cratered and Smith struggled to both shoot and defend - the two things the Cavs had paid him to do - they started shopping him ahead of this year's trade deadline.
Strangely enough, hearing his name pop up in trade rumors seemed to be the fire Smith needed under his behind, and he's since begun to turn his season around.
"It was, 'You know what? The hell with it. If I'm going to get traded, I'm just going to go out playing the way I know how to play,'" Smith told McMenamin.
When the dust settled on a wild deadline day that saw Cleveland ship out six players and bring in four new ones, Smith was still a Cavalier, and he's since rewarded the team for keeping him aboard (though his huge contract surely had something to do with his staying put). In his last nine games, Smith has averaged 12.7 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from deep, firing up nearly eight 3-point attempts per 36 minutes.
"My name was being thrown around a lot out there, so it was nerve-racking for sure," Smith said. "When you see six guys getting traded and there's still more than an hour to the trade deadline, there's no telling what can happen."
Lue stands by his and the organization's decision to stick with Smith.
"People saying, 'Quit on J.R., give up on J.R.' It's not right," Lue told McMenamin. "And he gives us effort and energy every night. Sometimes your shot is going to come and go, that's just part of the game. For the most part, his effort is there every night. That's why I wanted to stick with J.R. and I don't want to lose J.R. Make sure (to) keep him in good spirits, going in the right direction. He's big for us. When he's making shots, when he's being aggressive, our team is a whole different team."