The defending champs suffered a big blow Wednesday morning when they found out their starting shooting guard and sharpshooter J.R. Smith will miss extended time and need surgery for a broken thumb.
STATUS UPDATE: @TheRealJRSmith experienced a right thumb injury. [DETAILS]: https://t.co/MUoSZ0vxcD
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 21, 2016
Smith was injured in the 2nd quarter of Tuesday night’s game in Milwaukee while trying to steal the ball from the Greek Freak.
He is averaging eight points and two rebounds per game on 36 percent shooting from three-point range.
DeAndre Liggins is set to start in Smith’s place and you can expect oft-injured Iman Shumpert to have a much larger role as well.
Smith’s absence begs the question though, should the Cavs make a move to acquire another scoring two-guard?
A player like Monta Ellis or Wayne Ellington could potentially be had for a first round pick and add some insurance for the Cavaliers if J.R. Smith can’t return to the court for a few months or so.
It will be interesting to see how aggressive the Cavaliers are in the trade market.
