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Cavs Team Salary and Trade Assets
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Ohioplayer00
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The Cavs have other other options open to them to improve. Came across this article by a writer named Josh Cornelissen. It’s long but interesting:
“The Cleveland Cavaliers face a team-building problem, one that is hardly unique to them but will make their path forward much more difficult. Having spent most of their draft assets and operating as an over-the-cap team, their primary means of improving the roster this offseason is the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, or “MLE” which should amount to something around $12.2 million.
The Cavs have to use the MLE to find a fifth starter, and specifically a starter at small forward. That isn’t their only option — they could continue to put faith in their internal candidates, or try to find a budget option on the trade market — but most likely, their only hope of finding a starting small forward is using that MLE.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a hard time finding a starting small forward
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, at least a half dozen other teams will be in the market for starting small forwards, and over 20 teams are after 3-and-D players. That’s going to drive up the market on the already-slim pickings on the free agency market. When you factor in that there are maybe six starter-level small forwards on the market, and perhaps another four or five power forwards who could shift to the 3, the problem becomes nearly impossible to solve.
What if there were another approach to the problem? Could the Cavaliers play the turtle game, moving their need from small forward to center? In that scenario, the needle becomes a bit easier to thread, and the resulting team would instantly vault into true title contention.
Let’s break down the two-step process to give the Cavaliers a starting lineup that might be the very best in the entire league.
Laying out the trade for the Cavaliers
Jerami Grant is the kind of player the Cavaliers would love to sign. He is tall and long (6’8″) with the combination of size and strength to defend both forward positions. He is a defensive playmaker, and while his impact on that end has waxed and waned with his offensive load, there is no denying he’s a plus defender.
On the other end of the court, Grant has blossomed into a talented scoring threat. He proved that he can score at decent efficiency as the top option and at excellent efficiency as the co-star. Last year in Portland he had a career season, shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point range and averaging 20.5 points per game.
Grant is a free agent this summer, but his market is well outside of the range of the Cavaliers’ $12.2 million MLE. There is literally no path to signing Grant outright. There is, however, another option for the Cavs: a sign and trade.
In this scenario, Grant would sign a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers that he would not be eligible to sign with the Cavaliers, but then is immediately traded to Cleveland. The Cavs would need to both match Grant’s salary and make it worth Portland’s while. That trade would look something like this:
trailblazers.png.webp
TRAIL BLAZERS GET
JARRETT ALLEN
ISAAC OKORO
cavaliers.png.webp
CAVALIERS GET
JERAMI GRANT
It’s obviously painful to give up two young pieces of the Cavs’ core, but the positional game demands it. Grant is a plus scorer and good shooter who will be a legitimate two-way player for the Cavaliers, and they can’t acquire that type of player anywhere else.
For Portland, they get a starting center to replace Jusuf Nurkic would should be an excellent fit with Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons in pick-and-roll, and he is young enough to be a part of a youth movement if the Blazers move on from Lillard this summer. Isaac Okoro effectively replaces Gary Payton II as an on-ball stopper to work in with Lillard and Simons.
If the Cavs make this trade happen, they will still be a starter short. What this move does, however, is give them positional versatility. They could still pursue a starting small forward with the MLE, starting Grant at the 4 and Evan Mobley at the 5. They would still face the same issue as before, however. What this trade opens up is the possibility of now using the MLE to pursue a starting center
The signing to replace Jarrett Allen
The Milwaukee Bucks are facing a series of tough questions this offseason, much tougher than whether “this season was a failure” or not. They are searching for a new head coach, with two of their four core players hitting free agency and massive team-building restrictions heading their way in the new CBA if they commit to everyone.
The most likely path forward for the Bucks is to re-sign Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and hope to win another title before they have to pay the piper. They might just try to ease the sting a bit and offer Lopez a smaller deal, perhaps shorter or with non-guaranteed seasons, so they aren’t stuck paying him if his game drops off as he ages into his late-30s.
That’s where a team like the Cavaliers could swoop in. They can’t offer an unlimited per-year salary, but they can give Lopez years and total guaranteed money. If the Bucks offer him two-years and $36 million with a non-guaranteed third season, would Lopez rather sign for four years at the MLE, which would start at $12.22 million for a four-year total of $52.67 million?
It’s at least reasonable, as that could be the most guaranteed money on the table for Lopez and would afford him the chance to continue contending for a title. He can hear firsthand from his twin-brother Robin about the organizational culture, and perhaps Robin would even stick around as a deep reserve center for another year.
Lopez finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season as a truly elite rim protector, and few players are as good at defending a pick-and-roll downhill attack in drop coverage as Lopez, filling the space perfectly to contest the driver but not allowing an easy lob pass. Add in that Lopez has become a true stretch-5, shooting 37.4 percent from deep on 4.7 attempts per game, and Lopez would be at worst an even swap for Allen.
Would these two moves actually work?
The needle that we have presented for the Cavaliers to thread this offseason is very small, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. While it seems unlikely on the surface that the Cavs could turn Jarrett Allen and Isaac Okoro into Jerami Grant and Brook Lopez, each move seems reasonable when taken in turn.
The Cavaliers would trot out a starting lineup of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jerami Grant, Evan Mobley and Brook Lopez. That group should have no problems keeping the defense around league-best levels, with two of the top Defensive Player of the Year finalists in the frontcourt. On offense, Grant is a massive offensive upgrade over Isaac Okoro. The Cavs’ starting frontcourt hit a total of 85 3-pointers last season; swap out Okoro and Allen for Grant and Lopez, and that number would skyrocket to 302.
It’s not suddenly some panacea of team-building to make the Cavs the unquestioned title favorites next season. Grant is more of a natural power forward now, and while he can absolutely play the 3, he isn’t the best option to defend opposing guards; the Cavs would need to address that in another way this offseason. He is also 29 years old, while Lopez is 35; the Cavaliers would be getting older with these moves.
Even so, this would be not just a good move for Cleveland, but a great one. It would transform their offense and eliminate their most glaring weaknesses from this past year’s playoff debacle. If the Cavs could find a way to pull it off, they would instantly go from pseudo-contenders to a team with a legitimate shot at winning a title.”
“The Cleveland Cavaliers face a team-building problem, one that is hardly unique to them but will make their path forward much more difficult. Having spent most of their draft assets and operating as an over-the-cap team, their primary means of improving the roster this offseason is the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, or “MLE” which should amount to something around $12.2 million.
The Cavs have to use the MLE to find a fifth starter, and specifically a starter at small forward. That isn’t their only option — they could continue to put faith in their internal candidates, or try to find a budget option on the trade market — but most likely, their only hope of finding a starting small forward is using that MLE.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a hard time finding a starting small forward
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, at least a half dozen other teams will be in the market for starting small forwards, and over 20 teams are after 3-and-D players. That’s going to drive up the market on the already-slim pickings on the free agency market. When you factor in that there are maybe six starter-level small forwards on the market, and perhaps another four or five power forwards who could shift to the 3, the problem becomes nearly impossible to solve.
What if there were another approach to the problem? Could the Cavaliers play the turtle game, moving their need from small forward to center? In that scenario, the needle becomes a bit easier to thread, and the resulting team would instantly vault into true title contention.
Let’s break down the two-step process to give the Cavaliers a starting lineup that might be the very best in the entire league.
Laying out the trade for the Cavaliers
Jerami Grant is the kind of player the Cavaliers would love to sign. He is tall and long (6’8″) with the combination of size and strength to defend both forward positions. He is a defensive playmaker, and while his impact on that end has waxed and waned with his offensive load, there is no denying he’s a plus defender.
On the other end of the court, Grant has blossomed into a talented scoring threat. He proved that he can score at decent efficiency as the top option and at excellent efficiency as the co-star. Last year in Portland he had a career season, shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point range and averaging 20.5 points per game.
Grant is a free agent this summer, but his market is well outside of the range of the Cavaliers’ $12.2 million MLE. There is literally no path to signing Grant outright. There is, however, another option for the Cavs: a sign and trade.
In this scenario, Grant would sign a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers that he would not be eligible to sign with the Cavaliers, but then is immediately traded to Cleveland. The Cavs would need to both match Grant’s salary and make it worth Portland’s while. That trade would look something like this:
trailblazers.png.webp
TRAIL BLAZERS GET
JARRETT ALLEN
ISAAC OKORO
cavaliers.png.webp
CAVALIERS GET
JERAMI GRANT
It’s obviously painful to give up two young pieces of the Cavs’ core, but the positional game demands it. Grant is a plus scorer and good shooter who will be a legitimate two-way player for the Cavaliers, and they can’t acquire that type of player anywhere else.
For Portland, they get a starting center to replace Jusuf Nurkic would should be an excellent fit with Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons in pick-and-roll, and he is young enough to be a part of a youth movement if the Blazers move on from Lillard this summer. Isaac Okoro effectively replaces Gary Payton II as an on-ball stopper to work in with Lillard and Simons.
If the Cavs make this trade happen, they will still be a starter short. What this move does, however, is give them positional versatility. They could still pursue a starting small forward with the MLE, starting Grant at the 4 and Evan Mobley at the 5. They would still face the same issue as before, however. What this trade opens up is the possibility of now using the MLE to pursue a starting center
The signing to replace Jarrett Allen
The Milwaukee Bucks are facing a series of tough questions this offseason, much tougher than whether “this season was a failure” or not. They are searching for a new head coach, with two of their four core players hitting free agency and massive team-building restrictions heading their way in the new CBA if they commit to everyone.
The most likely path forward for the Bucks is to re-sign Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and hope to win another title before they have to pay the piper. They might just try to ease the sting a bit and offer Lopez a smaller deal, perhaps shorter or with non-guaranteed seasons, so they aren’t stuck paying him if his game drops off as he ages into his late-30s.
That’s where a team like the Cavaliers could swoop in. They can’t offer an unlimited per-year salary, but they can give Lopez years and total guaranteed money. If the Bucks offer him two-years and $36 million with a non-guaranteed third season, would Lopez rather sign for four years at the MLE, which would start at $12.22 million for a four-year total of $52.67 million?
It’s at least reasonable, as that could be the most guaranteed money on the table for Lopez and would afford him the chance to continue contending for a title. He can hear firsthand from his twin-brother Robin about the organizational culture, and perhaps Robin would even stick around as a deep reserve center for another year.
Lopez finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season as a truly elite rim protector, and few players are as good at defending a pick-and-roll downhill attack in drop coverage as Lopez, filling the space perfectly to contest the driver but not allowing an easy lob pass. Add in that Lopez has become a true stretch-5, shooting 37.4 percent from deep on 4.7 attempts per game, and Lopez would be at worst an even swap for Allen.
Would these two moves actually work?
The needle that we have presented for the Cavaliers to thread this offseason is very small, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. While it seems unlikely on the surface that the Cavs could turn Jarrett Allen and Isaac Okoro into Jerami Grant and Brook Lopez, each move seems reasonable when taken in turn.
The Cavaliers would trot out a starting lineup of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jerami Grant, Evan Mobley and Brook Lopez. That group should have no problems keeping the defense around league-best levels, with two of the top Defensive Player of the Year finalists in the frontcourt. On offense, Grant is a massive offensive upgrade over Isaac Okoro. The Cavs’ starting frontcourt hit a total of 85 3-pointers last season; swap out Okoro and Allen for Grant and Lopez, and that number would skyrocket to 302.
It’s not suddenly some panacea of team-building to make the Cavs the unquestioned title favorites next season. Grant is more of a natural power forward now, and while he can absolutely play the 3, he isn’t the best option to defend opposing guards; the Cavs would need to address that in another way this offseason. He is also 29 years old, while Lopez is 35; the Cavaliers would be getting older with these moves.
Even so, this would be not just a good move for Cleveland, but a great one. It would transform their offense and eliminate their most glaring weaknesses from this past year’s playoff debacle. If the Cavs could find a way to pull it off, they would instantly go from pseudo-contenders to a team with a legitimate shot at winning a title.”
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| Player | Age | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Signed Using |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darius Garland | 23 | $33,250,000 | $35,910,000 | $38,570,000 | $41,540,000 | 1st Round pick |
| Donovan Mitchell | 26 | $32,600,060 | $34,848,340 | $37,096,620 | Bird Rights / Designated Rookie | |
| Jarrett Allen | 25 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | Bird Rights | |
| Caris LeVert | 28 | $16,000,000 | $16,000,000 | Bird Rights | ||
| Evan Mobley | 22 | $8,882,760 | $11,227,809 | QO:$14,730,686 | 1st Round Pick | |
| Cedi Osman | 28 | $6,650,000 | MLE | |||
| Isaac Okoro | 22 | $8,920,795 | QO:$11,828,974 | 1st Round Pick | ||
| Ricky Rubio | 32 | $6,146,342 | $6,439,025 | MLE | ||
| Dean Wade | 26 | $5,709,877 | $6,166,667 | $6,623,456 | MLE Extension | |
| Georges Niang | 30 | $9,000,000 | $8,500,000 | $8,000,000 | MLE Estimated | |
| Robin Lopez | 35 | |||||
| Raul Neto | 31 | |||||
| Lamar Stevens | 25 | $1,930,681 | MLE | |||
| Mamadi Diakite | 23 | QO:$1,761,752 | Two-Way Contract | |||
| Isaiah Mobley | 23 | QO:$1,761,752 | Two-Way Contract | |||
| Emoni Bates | 19 | |||||
| Khalifa Diop | 21 | |||||
| Luke Travers | 21 | |||||
| Team Cap Salary | ~$149,000,000 | ~$140,000,000 | ~$101,000,000 | |||
| Salary Cap | $136,000,000 | |||||
| Luxury Tax | $165,000,000 |
Team Option
Not Fully Guaranteed
Teams can only have 2 Designated rookie contracts
$3.9 million trade exception for Agbaji (expires 9/4/2023)
Cedi Osman's 2023/24 contract becomes guaranteed if not waived by June 29, 2023
Picks Owed:
2024 Cavs Second Round Pick to New York, Memphis, or Indiana (complicated)
2025 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah
2026 Cavs First Round Pick Swap with Utah
2027 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah
2028 Cavs First Round Pick Swap with Utah
2029 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah
Picks Due:
2024 Second Round Pick from GSW if it is 55 or lower
2025 Second Round Pick from MIL
2026 Second Round Pick from LA
2027 Second Round Pick from Denver
Last edited:
Looking at the team structure/salary chart, what really stands out to me is how badly we needed (still need) Okoro to hit. If he was even close to the wing you'd expect from the #5 pick, we'd be sitting pretty.
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| Player | Age | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Signed Using |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darius Garland | 23 | $33,250,000 | $35,910,000 | $38,570,000 | $41,540,000 | 1st Round pick |
| Donovan Mitchell | 26 | $32,600,060 | $34,848,340 | $37,096,620 | Bird Rights | |
| Jarrett Allen | 25 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | Bird Rights | |
| Caris LeVert | 28 | $15,384,616 | $16,615,384 | Bird Rights (estimated) | ||
| Max Strus | 27 | $14,487,684 | $15,212,068 | $15,936,452 | $16,660,837 | Bird S&T (estimated) |
| Evan Mobley | 22 | $8,882,760 | $11,227,809 | QO:$14,730,686 | 1st Round Pick | |
| Georges Niang | 30 | $8,800,000 | $8,500,000 | $8,200,000 | MLE (estimated) | |
| Isaac Okoro | 22 | $8,920,795 | QO:$11,828,974 | 1st Round Pick | ||
| Ricky Rubio | 32 | $6,146,342 | $6,439,025 | MLE | ||
| Dean Wade | 26 | $5,709,877 | $6,166,667 | $6,623,456 | MLE | |
| Ty Jerome | 25 | $2,439,025 | $2,560,975 | MLE (estimated) | ||
| Damian Jones | 28 | $2,586,665 | ||||
| Sam Merrill | 27 | $1,997,238 | $2,164,993 | MLE | ||
| Roster Spot #14 | ||||||
| Roster Spot #15 | ||||||
| Emoni Bates | 19 | Two way | ||||
| Isaiah Mobley | 23 | Two way | Two-Way Contract | |||
| Craig Porter | 23 | Two way | Two-Way Contract | |||
| Team Cap Salary | ~$156,100,000 | ~$161,000,000 | ~$127,000,000 | |||
| Salary Cap | $136,000,000 | |||||
| Luxury Tax | $165,000,000 |
Team Option
Not Fully Guaranteed
Outgoing Picks:
2024 Cavs Second Round Pick to New York, Memphis, or Indiana (complicated)
2025 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah ( Mitchell Trade)
2026 Cavs First Round Pick Swap with Utah ( Mitchell Trade)
2027 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah ( Mitchell Trade)
2028 Cavs First Round Pick Swap with Utah ( Mitchell Trade)
2029 Cavs First Round Pick to Utah ( Mitchell Trade)
+ 2 second round picks for the Strus trade
2030 Cavs Second Round Pick to Spurs ( Strus Trade)
Incoming Picks:
2024 Second Round Pick from GSW if it is 55-60
2025 Second Round Pick from MIL
2027 Second Round Pick from Denver
Updates:
7-5-2023 Added I Mobley and Craig Porter as 2-way contracts, remembered that Sam Merrill still has a contract
7-18-2023 updated free agent signings
8-5-2023 added Emoni as a 2-way, updated free agent salaries
Last edited: