Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said on Tuesday night that he is planning to make changes to the lineup, and J.R. Smith is willing to accept a reduced role if Lue thinks that will help.
Following his team’s 114-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, which was Cleveland’s 10th loss in its last 13 games, Lue said he is “gonna make a change.” Smith, who has started 42 of 45 games this season, told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that he would not be opposed to coming off the bench. The veteran swingman also acknowledged that he is not playing up to his standards, as he is averaging just 7.4 points per game and shooting a career-worse 36.7 percent from the field.
Smith said before the season that he was frustrated about the possibility of losing his starting job to Dwyane Wade, but that didn’t end up happening. Wade has started just three games this year, though that could change going forward.
The Cavs held a meeting on Monday to try to work through some of the chemistry issues the team is having, and McMenamin reports that there is currently a divide between the players who have been with the team through its recent run of success and the eight new players who came to Cleveland this season.
“Everybody wants accountability, but nobody actually wants to be held accountable,” one player told ESPN. “The crazy thing is that it still all feels correctable.”
“There is no trust out there on the court,” another player said. “This is the worst it’s been.”
Lue said team meetings where players air out their frustrations can be productive, but the Cavs failed to prove theirs was helpful with their poor performance against San Antonio.
“I mean, if we’re going to speak out and talk, we got to back it up,” Lue said. “And, I mean, we didn’t do that tonight. We talked about it this morning. It could be healthy, but you’ve got to do something about it.”
Despite their recent stretch of bad play, the Cavs are still the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and have a record of 27-19. They have plenty of time to sort things out before the postseason, but they may have to make some trades given the reports we have heard about players turning on one another.
