One of the Cleveland Cavaliers' key pieces in their last season's playoff run, J.R. Smith, is still without a team as of the moment. But it should be noted that the 29-year-old mercurial shooter brought this contract situation upon himself and he should not blame it to anyone or anything else.

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The former St. Benedict's Prep high school stalwart should still be under contract with the Cavs this season for $6.4 million but instead he chose not to use his player option and as a result he became a free agent last July.

Smith must be thinking that he could land a long-term multi-million deal, if not with Cleveland then with any other interested team, because of his "performance" last season. However, his prognosis was proven wrong and there are still no takers of his talent a little more than two months to go before the start of the new season.

CBS Sports recently reported that Cleveland offered him a one-year deal that comes with so much less money than the $6.4 million he would have still earned. The 2013 NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee reportedly turned down the offer and so he and the Cavs are again on a standstill when it comes to contract negotiations.

The report said that Smith may have become indispensable ever since the team acquired Mo Williams during the summer. Williams could fill-up the role Smith had played last season, as the offensive spark off the bench, and he could contribute some more especially in terms of consistency and reliability.

Just recently, the Cavs acquired free agent shooting guard Jared Cunningham to a training camp deal, as per RealGM. A lot of speculations suggest that Cunningham may end up making Cleveland's roster when the regular season starts in October, and this should be another concern for Smith.

Fansided indicated that this might be the Cavs' message to Smith that the team no longer needs him or at least they are not in urgent need of signing him. It is obvious that he does not have any leverage to negotiate with management, and so if he still wants to play in the NBA then he may have to accept whatever deal Cleveland has to offer.  

With the Cavs as his only option so far, Smith is at the mercy of the team he had helped reach the Finals last season.

TagsNBA 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, JR Smith, cleveland cavaliers