LeBron James is urging the Cleveland Cavaliers to re-sign J.R. Smith now that the team has started training camp.

The Cavaliers were in a similar situation last season with Tristan Thompson.

“I hate coming into another season – two years in a row – with one of my big guns not here. So, for a leader of a team and for me personally, I just hate to deal with this [expletive] again,” James said. “It’s just too big of a piece to our team to have to deal with in another training camp. Hopefully things get resolved fast, because you know how big and important he is to our team.”

David Griffin said the organization made “an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer” to bring back Smith.

“Negotiations are always two-sides, but J.R. did his part,” James said. “J.R. did his part. He showed up every day. Worked his ass off every day. Became a two-way player, a model citizen in Cleveland and he’s a fan favorite, obviously, we all know that. All of a sudden now he’s a season ticket-holder at the Indians’ games. You know, so. … But we just miss him. We miss having him around. He’s a big piece of our team and they just need to get it done.”

Rich Paul represents James and Smith.

The Cavaliers have the league’s second-highest payroll at nearly $118 million.

“We’re still missing a huge piece of our team. So we’re not all the way comfortable yet. Once that is resolved, hopefully soon, we can really get into what we need to do,” James said. “We still have enough talent. But we can’t become full until he’s here. But that doesn’t deter anybody or any of the guys that’s coming in to show up every day. We’re still working our tails off and everybody who is filling in has been working extremely hard through this camp so far, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

Tyronn Lue has extended an open invitation for Kevin Garnett to join his coaching staff with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"I talked to him about it," Lue said after Cavs practice Thursday. "I know his wife is pushing for it a lot. Brandi is pushing for it, trying to get him to come and coach. He says he's not ready yet. He goes back -- 'I might do it' -- but he's back and forth. We'll see. But I'd definitely make a spot for him if he wanted to come back and coach."

Garnett retired last week after 21 seasons in the NBA.

"He's one of my best friends," Lue said of Garnett.

Lue, 39, was rooting for the 40-year-old Garnett to play a 22nd and final season in Minnesota this year.

"Didn't want to see him do it," Lue said of Garnett's retirement. "I thought he would've been the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He just turned 40 in May. I just thought that would've been great for him."

The Cleveland Cavaliers will take a committee approach to filling the backup point guard minutes left by Mo Williams' retirement.

"We have to do it by committee," Tyronn Lue said Tuesday afternoon, following the team's first practice. "I thought (DeAndre) Liggins looked really good today. Did a great job. Kay (Felder). I think we can play Jordan (McRae) a little backup point, we've got Shump (Iman Shumpert) who can play a little backup point and having LeBron on the floor with him will help him out. We just have to do it by committee until we figure it out."

Kyrie Irving and Kay Felder are the only traditional point guards on the Cavs' roster.

"Oh, man. It's a great opportunity," Felder said following his first NBA practice Tuesday. "I get to learn from Kyrie. I'll maybe be a little bit more in touch with him, because you know it would have been me and Mo right there. But now it's just me. Just to learn from Kyrie, learn what he's been through in his career, it will be fun."

With Mo Williams deciding to retire from the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a need at the point guard position.

The Cavaliers only have Kyrie Irving and Kay Felder at the position heading into the season.

The Cavaliers have been in contact with Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers and Kirk Hinrich. Cole and Chalmers were teammates of LeBron James with the Heat.

Mo Williams has ultimately decided to change his mind again to retire from the NBA.

Williams announced on Twitter last week that he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers for one more season.

The Cavs owe Williams $2.2 million this season. David Griffin declined to answer whether the team would pursue a settlement, but said "we were planning on something like this being possible."

Williams had been leaning strongly toward retirement this summer, then reversed course on the eve of training camp. 

The Cavaliers only have Kyrie Irving and Kay Felder on their depth chart at point guard.

Tyronn Lue signed a five-year, $35 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the offseason.

Lue tried to avoid the spotlight this summer after helping the Cavs win their first title.

"I'm not the type of guy who wants the credit," Lue said in a lengthy, phone interview with cleveland.com from Santa Barbara, Calif., where he and his assistants were hanging out this week for LeBron James' minicamp for the Cavs' players.

"That's why this summer, I was declining all the talk shows," Lue said. "I won coach of the year at the ESPYs, but I didn't go to ESPYs. That's not me. I don't want the attention. I love the game of basketball, I love coaching. The attention, being on TV, all that stuff, that's not what it's about for me."

Lue was initially unsure if he was the right coach for the job so he never signed a three-year, $9.5 million deal he verbally agreed upon with the Cavs when they promoted him to head coach.

"I wanted to make sure it was the "right fit."

"Was I right for this job?" Lue said, rhetorically. "I hate being on TV, hate dealing with media on TV. All that stuff, I don't like that. Being with LeBron, who draws all kinds of attention, I knew I was going to see myself on TV. I hate that. I like to fly under radar. I wanted to make sure the fit was right."

Dahntay Jones will sign a camp deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jones was waived by the Cavaliers following The Finals. Jones was signed prior to the last game of the 2015-16 regular season.

Jones showed up in Santa Barbara this week to attend LeBron James' minicamp.

Mo Williams has announced he will play one more NBA season after contemplating retirement throughout the offseason.

Williams is under contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers for one season at $2.2 million.

Williams had told people close to him over the summer that he would retire, but the Cavs said they never heard that from him and were unsure if he would return.

Williams played on a bad left knee last season, and the knee was said to be one of the reasons he was considering retirement. 

The Cavaliers were facing potential depth issues at point guard as the only other player at the position on their roster other than Kyrie Irving is Kay Felder.

Williams turns 34 in December.

J.R. Smith will skip the Cleveland Cavaliers voluntary minicamp this week in California.

Smith and the Cavaliers continue to negotiate a contract. Smith is seeking a multiyear deal with the Cavaliers.

The session is meant to create camaraderie ahead of the season. Last year, the team gathered in Miami for a camp.

One of the reasons Smith's talks have failed to find common ground is the wide variety of contracts shooting guards signed during the offseason. Comparable shooting guards include Kent Bazemore (four years, $70 million), Eric Gordon (four years, $53 million) Jamal Crawford (three years, $42 million), Courtney Lee (four years, $48 million) and Joe Johnson (two years, $22 million).

J.R. Smith still hopes to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers with training camp quickly approaching.

In an interview with Complex.com posted Friday, Smith said the Cavs' offer was such that "we're not where we want to be at from a personal standpoint."

The next part is somewhat confusing. He said "I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of the Cavs for everything they've done for me, and I don't want them to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. It's more of a mutual respect thing."

In numerous conversations with Smith's camp, they feel he's proven his worth to the Cavs. 

The Cavs are already more than $22 million over the the NBA's $94 million salary cap. 

Smith is believed to be looking for approximately $15 million per season. The Cavs would likely prefer a shorter contract. The Cavs gave Smith a two-year, $10 million contract with a player's option for the second season prior to the 15-16 campaign. That was after Smith declined a $6.4 million option on his previous contract.