INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James waded forcefully into the Cavs' standoff with free-agent shooting guard J.R. Smith Friday, pinning the responsibility to come to agreement on a new contract on the organization.

"Negotiations are always two-sides but J.R. did his part," James said. "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 the sudden now he's a season ticket holder at the Indians games.

"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."

Smith, the Cavs' starter at his position for both runs to the Finals the past two seasons, is represented by James' agent, Rich Paul. The Cavs' offer to Smith was somewhere between $10 million and $11 million annually, and Smith rejected it.

On Monday, Cleveland general manager David Griffin said the club made "an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer." Obviously, Smith disagrees.

James and Smith are friends, and they share the same agent in Paul. So it may come as little surprise that James would choose to weigh in like this -- he of course has enormous clout within the organization. But James was much more diplomatic last season when another Paul client -- Tristan Thompson -- missed all of camp negotiating a contract extension with the Cavs.

"I hate coming into another season - two years in a row - with one of my big guns not here," James said. "So, for a leader of a team and for me personally, I just hate to deal with this s--- again. It's just too big of a piece to our team to have to deal with in another training camp."

James said "it wouldn't be good for any side" if Smith ultimately did not play for the Cavs this season.

There is no imminent threat from James should Smith languish in free agency -- the Cavs' ultimate warrior is under contract for at least the next two seasons, but Smith's absence is clearly weighing on him. A team PR staff member initially told James he was not required to speak to the media Friday -- he not only spoke, but waited around while Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, and Tyronn Lue took questions first.

Smith is looking at his production the past two seasons -- 367 3-pointers, second-most in the NBA behind Stephen Curry; 12.5 points per game in 11/2 seasons with the Cavs and 40-percent shooting from 3-point range. He's become an above-average defender and is always credited with playing hard, something not all NBA players can say.

Smith also knows the Cavs can't easily replace him -- with a $117 million payroll, the team is already $23 million over the cap. The team does have a salary cap trade exception worth about $10 million that could be used to replace Smith eventually, but it's a gamble if Cleveland goes that route because there are no guarantees a player with Smith's capabilities would be available at that price.

The Cavs don't just view this as an argument over their offer -- split the difference, say $10.5 million -- versus what Smith wants ($15 million or more). Because the Cavs are already over the luxury tax line of $114 million, they would have to pay essentially $4.25 in taxes for every $1 they give Smith.

That's a difference of roughly $20 million in taxes.

There also does not appear to be a market for Smith outside of the Cavs. There are five teams -- Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Denver, Phoenix and Utah -- with the cap space to sign him. Either there is little or no interest in Smith from those teams, or, he has no interest in them. He's not lording any outside offer over the Cavs.

Smith, 31, has mostly behaved since arriving in January, 2015 via trade from the New York Knicks, but he came to Cleveland with about $1 million in fines from the NBA and a criminal record.

Shumpert will take Smith's place in the lineup for the time being, and the bench is deep with shooting guards and wings -- Richard Jefferson, Mike Dunleavy, Jordan McRae and DeAndre Liggins can play in coach Tyronn Lue's offense.

But what is the going price for a player called the "heart and soul of our team," which is how Lue described Smith to cleveland.com last week?

Lue and James have both expressed hope that Smith would be back in the fold "soon," but the last two players to fight over a contract with owner Dan Gilbert -- Thompson and Anderson Varejao -- lasted all of training camp before rejoining the team and in Varejao's case the standoff lasted into the regular season.

"We're saying that he is going to come back," Lue said Friday. "If he doesn't come back, we understand it's a business and we just have to move forward. No excuses. Next man up, next man has to be ready. We have some great pieces around who can also step in and play a role for us on this team."