What’s Next Now That the Cavs Have Lost J.R. Smith?

Special to NEOSI by Adam Schabel

The Cavs have another injury to add to the list. This time it’s J.R. Smith, as the Cavs guard fractured his thumb during Tuesday’s 114-108 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Fox Sports Ohio determined that the injury occurred in the second quarter when Smith swiped down in an attempt to strip the ball from Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. He missed the second half of the game and according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Smith is expected to miss an extended period of time.

The injuries are starting to pile up for the Cavs. Center Chris Andersen tore his ACL in last Friday’s practice and is out for the season. Forward Kevin Love missed both Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee as well as last night’s affair with knee soreness and swelling.

Coach Ty Lue is going to have to determine who will fill in for Smith while he is out. Guard DeAndre Liggins will likely take over Smith’s place in the rotation like he did earlier in the season when Smith missed time with a knee injury. Lue may also consider giving guard Jordan McRae some minutes, he has played sparingly thus far.

Cavs GM David Griffin may need to make a move, either via trade or free agency, to add a backup point guard.

The Cavs are also in a bind for other reasons. First, guard Mo Williams is still on the Cavs’ payroll and is taking up a roster spot.

Second Andersen’s contract is guaranteed and therefore if the Cavs wanted to release him and sign another player, both players’ salaries would count against the teams’ salary cap. In summary, the Cavs are down to 12 healthy players for the foreseeable future.

This fact puts the Cavs in a predicament because Lue is trying to limit the minutes of Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Love in order to minimize their risk of injury. However, this will now be a challenge because of the injuries to Andersen and Smith.

James is 31 years old and will be 32 in nine days. He is averaging the second most minutes played per game in the league behind Timberwolves forward Zach LaVine who is 10 years younger than James.

Windhorst said that James hasn’t played this many minutes per game in the last four to five years and that he is averaging the most minutes played per game in the month of December since he was 22 years old.

The bottom line here is that Lue must find a way to cut down James’ minutes, even if it means having him sit out more games. The health of James, Love and Irving is essential to the Cavs’ title hopes as we saw two years ago in the NBA Finals.