REPORT // JR Smith Considered Stepping Away From Cavs Due to Demotion

Cavs woes continue.

Well, it seems there’s once again drama in Cleveland. The team got their first post-LeBron win on Tuesday night in a 136-114 shellacking of the Atlanta Hawks to improve to a whopping 1-6 on the season! They also have yet to agree on a deal with interim head coach Larry Drew after the firing of Tyronn Lue, and there have been rumblings about tanking seven games in after hearing that Kevin Love will be out up to a month with a toe injury.

Cavs finally got a win tonight. But in other news they’re in an unprecedented stalemate with their acting coach, are managing a volatile situation with JR Smith & have started gauging trade market for Kyle Korver (w/@wojespn): https://t.co/ZLpdOFyTiL



— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) October 31, 2018

On Tuesday night, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that JR Smith was considering stepping away from the team as his role continued to shrink due to the prioritizing of minutes for younger players. However, JR himself refuted that report on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.

False! They gave me the option an I chose to stay! https://t.co/MMjMDiUdHA



— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) October 31, 2018

The classic news cycle in 2018.

The Cavs will soon be in full tank mode, and JR shouldn’t want to be there anyway. He’s still a solid role player who could provide some valuable shooting and defense in minutes for a contender. He’s expensive at $13 million, though, so a buyout could be the best course of action for both sides.

And now, we present you JR Smith.

This article first appeared on 12up.