CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cavaliers signing Richard Jefferson to a veteran's minimum contract for one season?
Why not?
Bring in another shooter.
That obviously is the plan of General Manager David Griffin.
Griffin believes that opposing teams stack the lane against the Cavs, wanting to stop LeBron James and Kyrie Irving from driving to the rim. The main way to make those defenses suffer is to drill 3-point shots.
That's what made J.R. Smith so valuable last season.
In the regular season, only Houston attempted more 3-point shots than the Cavs. That's right, the Cavs even fired up more shots from beyond the arch than Golden State, which ranked No. 4.
More notable, the Cavs shot .367 on 3-pointers. That was No. 5 in the league. Golden State led at .398.
So the Cavs take a lot of 3-pointers, and they make a lot. And Jefferson will help continue that trend.
Once upon time, Jefferson was a 17-point scorer in his first seven NBA seasons with the Nets. Four times in his career, he's averaged at least 19 points a season.
But the athletic Jefferson has recreated himself as a stationary 3-point shooter. It's how you stay in the league for what will be his 15th season. Jefferson has shot at least 41 percent from 3-point range in six of his last seven season -- including .426 (66-of-155) with Dallas in 2014-15.
STILL NEED SMITH
The Cavs still need Smith, or someone such as Smith. Common sense says Smith returns to the Cavs.
Of course, common sense has not always ruled in the career of Smith. He should have taken the $6.4 million player option for 2015-16 and been back with the Cavs. Right now, his options are very limited. He may have to return to the Cavs on a contract cheaper than his $6.4 million option. We'll see.
Smith averaged 12.8 points in the postseason, shooting .403 from the field and .359 from 3-point range. He was a 50 percent shooter in the Atlanta and Chicago series. It was in The Finals that he faltered, shooting only .312 from the field.
It would appear that the only teams with salary cap room to give Smith a significant contract are Portland and Philadelphia. It's doubtful the always-building Sixers will sign Smith. I've not heard anything about Portland being interested.
BENCH PROTECTION
Jefferson will replace Shawn Marion, who fell out of favor with Coach David Blatt.
Blatt also likes shooters, and that wasn't Marion.
The 6-foot-7 Marion never left the bench in The Finals. He played a grand total of 25 minutes in the entire postseason. Marion retired after the season.
Mike Miller quickly picked up his player option for this season. The 6-foot-8 veteran is 35. He had a very frustrating season, shooting only 35 percent from the field -- 33 percent on 3-pointers. He was horrible on defense.
Miller played a total of 28 minutes in The Finals, attempting only two shots. He made one. He had one rebound, no assists. He was timid when on the court in terms of trying to impact the game.
It's hard to count on Miller for much. That's another reason Jefferson was signed. He replaces Marion, and hopefully can deliver more than Miller did in 2014-15.
At this stage of his career, Jefferson is not a heavy-duty player in terms of minutes.
But he can still play, both shooting guard and small forward. Dallas wanted him back for a second season. In fact, Jefferson committed to returning to the Mavs, but changed his mind when the Cavs offered him a chance to play for a title.
Dallas lost to Houston in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Jefferson played 51 postseason minutes, scoring 15 points and shooting 5-of-14 from the field. So he wasn't used that much, but the Mavericks at least believed he could help off the bench.
That was not case with Miller and Marion for the Cavs in the postseason.
So yes, Jefferson should be an upgrade.
