Humbug. According to ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin, J.R. Smith is now expected to miss 12-14 weeks of action instead of the original projection of 4-6 weeks after having surgery to repair a “complex fracture” of his right thumb.<\/p>\n
If Smith does indeed end up missing 12 or 14 weeks, he would return to the lineup a month to two weeks before the playoffs began. Furthermore, there’s no telling how long it will take Smith to get his shot back after having his shooting hand incapacitated for at least 3 months.<\/p>\n
Smith started the year slowly, but was beginning to find his 3-point stroke before injuring his thumb. DeAndre Liggins has been starting in place of Smith, and while his defense has been a very pleasant surprise, he’s nowhere near the kind of weapon from beyond the arc that Smith is.<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see if this forces David Griffin into making a move for a replacement wing — Mike Dunleavy has been a colossal disappointment, but the Cavaliers’ only real trade asset is Turkish wing player Cedi Osman, and they already have the league’s highest payroll by $11 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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