CLEVELAND, Ohio -- J.R. Smith passed up $6.4 million and now will play for $5 million next season.
In exchange he gets a no-trade clause and a chance to make something happen in free agency next summer -- when the cap increases dramatically -- after failing to capitalize this time.
Smith bet on the market rewarding him for a good season and some extra credit work in the playoffs before his shot betrayed him in the final series.
It didn't happen for him.
Let's put that in perspective. (It sounds as if he pretty much already has, by the way).