JR Smith

[wremy]

Smith is athletic and can finish at the rim.. he will be brought of the bench to get hot and score pts.. he isn't a Def stopper and neither was Dion for the most part.. he is a great fit OFFENSIVELY for this team... dude has already had to big games vs GS and Pho and him getting hot like that in a playoff game could be huge for this team..IMO... Smith has big game experience and has played well before... he fits on this team 100x better than Dion did and wait until Shump gets here

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Like I said I am not hating him, but his defense is really bad. He is in a honeymoon phase as will, so everyone should still temper their expectations.

Well there's no reason to think he's not going to be getting the same shots. Whether they continue to drop, that's bound to vary, but I think he's going to get shot opportunities and openings that he's never seen before, so it'll be interesting.

 

[David.]

this guy is just so funny. thats all i care about.

him being a better dion, who KNOWS hes just a better dion is also fantastic.

 

[DatDudeZ3]

You know what really impressed me from the game Friday? It's a very small thing I noticed when re-watching the game... There was an alley oop for Jordan and JR rotated over and jumped high as he could and fouled Jordan at the rim, preventing him from throwing down a momentum alley oop and Jordan went on to split the pair. Saved us a point and a possible momentum swing for them. Those are winning plays coming from JR Smith, they are small but they are winning plays.

I asked myself, would Dion have tried to stop that alley oop and risk getting posterized by Jordan? Probably not, JR has been a breathe of fresh air for this team and has helped team chemistry like others have said. Have loved the addition of JR since the trade happened, we needed someone like this. This guy is confident, and fearless. Him taking food from a fan late in the game was just icing on the cake

 

[gratefuldead]

better shooter than dion
better finisher than dion
taller than dion
better defender than dion
and sadly, higher bb iq than dion

only advantage waiters has is youth and upside which we dont have time to wait for

id say this trade was a success and we havent even seen shumpnuts play yet

 

[czvo]

Anyone know JR's catch and shoot numbers? Seems like he's far better off the dribble than he is spotting up. That seems to be a low-key major reason for this team's streaky offense. Kyrie is better off the dribble. Love appears to be better off the dribble. And yet, LeBron creates numerous catch and shoot opportunities.

 

[davedugan43]

better shooter than dion
better finisher than dion
taller than dion
better defender than dion
and sadly, higher bb iq than dion

only advantage waiters has is youth and upside which we dont have time to wait for

id say this trade was a success and we havent even seen shumpnuts play yet

I love the nickname Shumpnuts

 

[kovanovich]

Well there's no reason to think he's not going to be getting the same shots. Whether they continue to drop, that's bound to vary, but I think he's going to get shot opportunities and openings that he's never seen before, so it'll be interesting.

His 3 pt % with the Cavs is 33% (career average 37%). His TS% with the Cavs is 51.1% (career average 53.7%). So yes there is good reason to think he can continue to shoot at his current rate, if not a bit better.

An under the radar stat for him is his 20.7% usage rate. That's the lowest of his career, and an indicator that he isn't just randomly chucking the ball. Of course, it's a small sample size.

 

[CavsFan87]

Hate to break it to you, but in the 3 years since Shump blew his knee out and the 3 years Dion has been on the league, Shumpert has shot 50.2% at the rim, Dion 52.4%. Now, if he can get back to his rookie year shooting #'s at the rim, I will agree (60.9%).

I think he was talking about JR...

 

[BimboColesHair]

I think he was talking about JR...

Whoops

 

[Cavatt]

Dion is playing better than JR right now. He plays better defense too, but whatever we want to say.

 

[CavsFaninNJ]

Dion is playing better than JR right now. He plays better defense too, but whatever we want to say.

He's playing better with an entirely different team. That's great and all - Dion was my favorite Cav since draft night so I'm so happy for him - but it's about who fits in better with this team and that's clear JR.

They have Westbrook, true, and I love how he and Waiters have been sharing duties when playing together - but we have Kyrie AND Lebron.

Even though Love isn't being integrated as well as he should right now, when you have a big three that all create space, you really don't need another player who plays best with the ball in their hands. You just don't.

Consider ourselves lucky that Kyrie has adjusted as well as he has to off the ball play, for that matter.

 

[TwoPistols]

I don't care even if Dion is playing better. He is still an undersized, easily replaceable combo-guard who stands around on offense, and gets treated like a future all-star. He did not fit with the Cavs in any way. Simply removing him from the team for a more traditional SG was an upgrade. Moving him for strictly Smith has so far been an upgrade, and that doesn't even recognize the addition of Shumpert yet.

 

[Stark]

JR, Shumpert, Mozgov > Dion

That's essentially what was done. Don't get how that is even a debate.

 

[Rich]

I worry about Smith being moved to the second unit a little bit. He MUST be on the floor with either James or Irving at all times. If he's left in there as the primary offensive weapon, that's when things can get scary with him.