Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin continued to maintain that the team wants to re-sign J.R. Smith at Monday's media day. The two sides are in a standoff in contract negotiations, but both Griffin and Smith have publicly stated that they want to resolve the issue. Smith did not attend the Cavs' informal workouts in California last week, and he remains a free agent.

"J.R. Smith is not here today," Griffin said, via cleveland.com's Hayden Grove. "As we've stated and coach has previously stated, we think very highly of J.R. We love him as a member of our team. As a member of our locker room, he was essential to our success. And for that reason we've made an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer to re-sign him. We hope that gets done in very short order. At the same time, we've been a team that has really become accustomed to a 'next man up' mentality and we expect this will be no different, not at all something that's going to be used as an excuse here in any way, shape or form. But we truly believe J.R. feels the same way about us and, as I said, we hope this is done in very short order."

Griffin then told reporters that he would not take questions about Smith.

Just like with Tristan Thompson last year, all signs still point to Smith and the team getting something done. Smith wants to help Cleveland defend its NBA championship, and there's not much of a market for him now. The Cavs do not want to enter the season without the player who started at shooting guard when they won a title and often guarded the opposing team's best wing player.

J.R. Smith and the Larry O'Brien trophy
J.R. Smith is still a free agent after winning a title with the Cavs. USATSI

To maintain some semblance of leverage, Griffin had to say that Cleveland would have a "next man up" mentality. It would be a failure, though, if the front office failed to bring Smith back. The way that Griffin has built this championship-winning roster, there is little financial flexibility, so retaining players is extremely important.