Report: J.R. Smith to Test Free Agency This Summer

Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith is reportedly going back into free agency this summer.

Smith, you may recall, took a similar gamble last summer and things didn’t exactly work out too well for his bank account.

The 30-year-old says he loves playing in Cleveland.

Per the NEOMG:

Smith, 30, re-signed with the Cavaliers last off-season for two years at $10.3 million. He will forgo his second-year option salary of $5.4 million to explore the opportunities on the open market with the cap expected to jump to $92 million. […] Had he opted in for the 2016-17 season, his deal wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until Sept. 17.

 

“This is where I want to be,” Smith said. “The fans love me; I love them and my teammates.”

 

Smith averaged 12.4 points and shot 40 percent from three-point range during the 2015-16 campaign, and developed into one of the team’s best perimeter defenders. He’s coming off of setting the franchise record for most three-pointers made in a season with 204, placing him seventh in the NBA.