Cavs Off-Season: Any Moves Left to Make?
The Cleveland Cavaliers off-season has been a fun one, just like their Regular Season. The Cavs brought back Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova while bringing in Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams. Quite a group of players that could have left or signed elsewhere instead of coming to Cleveland.
Tristan Thompson is almost assuredly returning with a huge contract at some point. J.R. Smith could return as well giving the Cavs quite a nice depth chart. For the sake of this article we will assume Tristan’s return but JR Swish’s.
Do the Cavs have any moves left to make this off-season?
While the team has turned Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller into two different Traded Player Exceptions, we will explore trade possibilities with those soon. Instead we will take a look at players that could be added to the team’s roster. First, lets take a look at who is currently signed, sealed and delivered for the team right now:
PG: Kyrie Irving/Mo Williams/Matthew Dellavedova
SG: Iman Shumpert/Joe Harris
SF: LeBron James/Richard Jefferson
PF: Kevin Love/Tristan Thompson/James Jones
C: Timofey Mozgov/Anderson Varejao
That leaves the Cavs with 12 players on their roster and only 3 roster spots available. What might they do with those roster spots?
Sign JR – Smith would be a good backup SG with the ability to give the Cavs a scoring punch off the bench. He also can give the Cavs a small ball small forward in case Jefferson struggles like Shawn Marion did.
Sign Sir’Dominic Pointer – The Cavs drafted Pointer late in the 2nd Round and could use his athleticism and defense off the bench. Pointer struggles as a shooter but with Williams, Harris, Jones and even Jefferson coming off the bench, the Cavs have a lot of shooting.
Sign Dorell Wright – With Jefferson on board, Wright is unlikely to be interested in coming to Cleveland but the Cavs should still have interest in the veteran sharp shooter. While the team has good shooting off the bench, with Kyrie and LeBron they can never have enough. Wright would be a great addition but is probably going to wait to find a place where he can play more, similar to how Mike Miller wanted out for more playing time.
Sign Sasha Kaun – The Cavs have the big man’s rights and he doesn’t plan to return to Russia. However the Cavs depth upfront is pretty good and they have all the leverage if Kaun wants to play in the NBA. Thompson plays more like a 5 than a 4 and Kaun would be another big man who can’t stretch the floor at all. He is still serviceable and last year proved you can never have too many good big men. Signing Kaun at some point this year just makes sense.
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Sign A Non-Guaranteed Deal – Giving themselves options for possible trades, the Cavs could sign a young player, or two even, to deals that don’t guarantee until later in the season. This will allow them to cut him if they find a good deal. Summer League players Keifer Sykes, D.J. Seeley, Quinn Cook, Eric Griffin or Tyler Haws all could be that player.
Wait for a Buyout Candidate – With part of their mid-level exception left, the Cavs can wait for a player to be bought out after the NBA Trade Deadline. They can offer that player the remaining total of their mid-level, around $1.5 million, to draw in a player that could fill a need, instead of filling the roster spot now. With injury possibilities, this may be the best way for the Cavs to remain flexible as they seek a title.
How do you think the Cavs roster will be filled?