Smith announced on his Instagram Thursday that he is re-signing with the Cavaliers. The guard declined his $6.4 million player option for the 2015-16 season to hit the market this summer, a move that proved to costly. He is returning to the Cavs, per a message he delivered on his Instagram account.
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Smith came to the Cavs with fellow shooting guard Iman Shumpert from the Knicks on January 5 in a three-team trade that included Dion Waiters heading from Cleveland to Oklahoma City.
Smith’s postseason got off to a rough start when he shot poorly against the Boston Celtics and then got suspended for smacking Jae Crowder in the face, but the 29-year-old returned and played a key role in the next two rounds, picking up the scoring slack with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving hurting.
He averaged figures of 12 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists against the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
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Smith agreed to a two-year deal in which he’ll earn $5 million next season with a player option on the second year, Northeast Ohio Media Group was told. The Cavaliers had things they needed to do in order to piece together a championship calibre roster. “I ended up deciding that instead of potentially securing a larger deal elsewhere, I wanted to rejoin an incredible organization in pursuit of the ultimate goal, an National Basketball Association championship”. He averaged 12.8 points in 18 games, starting four.
