CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Even after agreeing to their fourth trade this season, the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed busy on deadline eve, looking to find a new home for exiled swingman JR Smith, and the front office will continue with that goal up until 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, league sources told cleveland.com.

Smith, who hasn't played organized basketball since Nov. 19, 2018 and was recently spotted at Madison Square Garden as a fan, doesn't have nearly as much value as some of the other pieces the Cavs have moved recently. Finding a trade partner is "easier said than done," according to one source.

But numerous teams entered trade season looking to either free up cap space for 2019 free agency or to lower their luxury tax bill.

That was Houston's goal in the three-team deal with the Cavaliers on Wednesday evening. The Rockets, so desperate to get out from under Brandon Knight's bulky contract (owed nearly $16 million in the 2019-20 season), attached a first-round pick as a sweetener. The deal, which also brought Iman Shumpert to Houston, will end up saving the Rockets around $6 million towards the luxury tax.

Later in the night, the Washington Wizards made a deal involving Markieff Morris to get beneath the tax threshold.

The Cavs are hoping other teams take that same approach on Thursday afternoon, which gives them at least slim hope that Smith, who possesses a unique contract, could be the fallback option if other deals to get off salary don't materialize.

For the 2019-20 season, Smith's contract is $15.6 million, but contains a partial guarantee worth $3.8 million, allowing whichever team takes him -- if there is one willing to do that -- to release eventually him without much of a cap hit.

So which teams could consider that?

The San Antonio Spurs currently have the 13th-highest payroll in the NBA. They already have around $110 million committed in the 2019-20 season. Pau Gasol, 38, is averaging just 13.0 minutes and is set to make $16 million next season. The Spurs also have an extra first-round pick from the Toronto Raptors as a result of the DeMar DeRozan-Kawhi Leonard blockbuster.

The Spurs could be looking to shed Gasol's salary, creating a potential path to work with the Cavs -- provided San Antonio will attach a draft pick.

It's no secret that the Los Angeles Clippers have big dreams. The deal to send out free-agent-to-be Tobias Harris gives them plenty of room to go star hunting this summer. But if they want even more space, what about moving Danilo Gallinari's $22.6 million that he's owed next season? That would certainly make things more interesting.

The Cavs know that a Smith deal is a long shot. That's why they prioritized Kyle Korver, George Hill, Sam Dekker, Rodney Hood and Alec Burks -- all five players that have been traded already, netting the Cavs six second-round picks, two firsts and a couple of future expiring contracts that add to their asset chest.

In the case of Smith, his value was incredibly low when the Cavs acquired him in 2015 and he possesses a well-documented, lengthy history of slip-ups. Smith's also been one of the worst players in the NBA for the last two years and it's hard to see that changing after so much time away.

But if it's getting close to the 3 p.m. deadline and the other options for salary relief have been exhausted, the Cavs will be waiting. Smith is the only other player the team is currently "shopping."