The 2017 NBA Finals were completed on Monday but J.R. Smith is already looking ahead to the 2017-2018 season and beyond. The Cleveland Cavaliers swingman was captured supporting an Instagram post themed on luring Carmelo Anthony to join LeBron James and company in Ohio.
The full post can be seen here by way of Bleacher Report, but Smith liked a picture that showed Melo and LeBron as teammates in Cleveland.
Smith was fantastic in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, knocking down seven threes, including the final three-point basket in each and every quarter of the evening. With that said, the long-time NBA veteran knows what most of the league is already feeling in that the Warriors are poised to return a team that will, once again, be seen as a prohibitive favorite to capture the title.
Cleveland’s path toward adding Anthony to the roster would not be an easy one without the inclusion of Kevin Love in a trade and, with that on the table, it is debatable as to whether the Cavs would actually improve in that scenario. If the Eastern Conference champions could add Anthony without parting ways with a core piece, things would get interesting in a hurry but the New York Knicks would likely have little incentive to agree to such a deal. Lastly, Smith was a teammate of Anthony’s in both New York and Denver, lending credence to the theory that this was simply a show of support for a friend.
That doesn’t distract from the pure enjoyment level in a situation like this, however, as J.R. Smith didn’t wait even 48 hours before pouring fuel on the offseason fire.
