The Cleveland Cavaliers lost another game Monday night, falling to the Detroit Pistons 113-102 in a game they trailed by as many as 30 in. JR Smith played a whopping six minutes off the bench and scored 2 points, a bucket that consisted of Smith trying to pick up his dribble while the ball was sitting on the ground, then flicking it up and through the hoop with one hand.
The loss dropped the Cavs to 2-13, giving them sole position of the worst record in the NBA, and it’s no longer any sort of secret what the plan moving forward is: try and develop their young guys like Collin Sexton, Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman, lose a boatload of games and put themselves in a position to draft one of the Duke triumvirate of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish. Smith is not exactly on board with that plan.
Smith, who already indicated he’d like to be traded earlier this season, doubled down on that sentiment in an interview with Jason Lloyd of The Athletic that ran Tuesday morning.
“I don’t think the goal is to win. The goal isn’t to go out there and try to get as many wins as you can,” Smith said. “I think the goal is to develop and lose to get lottery picks. I think that was always the plan.”
And as long as the Cavs are operating this way, Smith is not interested in being part of it.
“Not if the goal isn’t to compete, to win,” he said.
The Cavs are, frankly, a mess. Though the organizational choice to go with the young guys on the court and monitor their professional development while accumulating losses is the correct one, they spent the entire offseason assuring both fans and their veteran players that they’d be competing for a playoff spot. It’s what convinced Kevin Love to sign a contract extension. It’s what kept Kyle Korver and Smith around. And now that they’ve done an about face, the vets, led by Smith, are not thrilled.
Smith says he doesn’t want a buyout, that he doesn’t like the stigma that comes with it, per The Athletic, but this thing is headed toward a messy divorce as the losses keep piling up.
