J.R. Smith won Sixth Man of the Year when the Knicks were a playoff team but other than that year, Smith’s time with the Knicks were marred with screw ups and fallen production. He and Iman Shumpert were subsequently traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers where both Smith and the team have managed to turn things around.
The team has won 15 of their last 17 games partly due to the return of LeBron James from injury and the addition of J.R. Smith.
Smith in particular has been given heavy minutes in the rotation as a starter, and though his numbers are up only slightly over the ones he posted in New York earlier in the year, there’s a level of effort and focus that simply wasn’t there while playing for the Knicks over the past couple of seasons.
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out.
From Steve Popper of North Jersey.com:
“I really can’t comment on anything in the past, but I can tell you one thing: J.R. Smith has been a dream for us, as a team and for me personally,” said Cavaliers rookie coach David Blatt. “I love the guy. I love coaching him. He comes to work every single day. He’s a great teammate. He’s playing both ends of the court for us consistently.
“He’s one of the main reasons for our turnaround, together with Iman, who simply started later because of the injury. Those guys, honestly, they’ve been a godsend. They really have. They turned the team around.”
