When looking at the Cleveland Cavaliers currently, there’s clearly three players’ contracts that are the best on the roster.
As you know, the 2019-20 NBA season is on hiatus until further notice due to concerns regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic, and in terms of reported updates, you can view those here. At this point, it is unclear whether or not the season will eventually resume, and currently, it’s uncertain exactly how the salary cap could potentially be affected going forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams, but one would think a realistic loss of basketball-related income would have an impact.
In terms of player compensation for this season, the league previously announced that players will be paid fully on April 15, but a negotiation is set to be under way for the next round of May 1 checks for players, of which possible withholding of percentages of checks are being negotiated between the league and the NBPA, as was h/t ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday.
In regards to the Cavaliers, when looking at whenever the upcoming free agency period ultimately is, I’d hope that they can re-sign Matthew Dellavedova on a team-friendly deal, given his veteran presence and with how he’s a stabilizing presence as a reserve guard.
At the moment, in terms of team rosters/salaries, you can view a current interactive chart on that and in looking at coming years, per Vivid Seats’ Andrew Gretchko.
Swinging back to Delly, though his salary could potentially be impacted if games are cancelled, he has been set to make $9.6 million this season, and will be expiring in the coming offseason.
He did play really well post-All-Star break leading up to the season’s suspension, in leading Cleveland with 5.5 assists per game, per NBA.com, but I wouldn’t think he’ll make nearly that per year going forward, and again, if a deal could be team-friendly, Cleveland should re-sign him.
Looking at another key part of Cleveland’s upcoming free agency period, I’d expect Andre Drummond to opt into his $28.8 million player option. That being said, even if he does so, Cleveland could reportedly trade him this offseason or feasibly, Drummond could opt out and agree to a sign-and-trade after agreeing to a contract extension with another team.
I’d still expect Drummond to opt in, and for Cleveland to eventually trade him mid-next season, though. Tristan Thompson, who is expiring, seemingly has a good chance of playing elsewhere next season, and Cleveland might want to keep Drummond around for a good bit next season as the starting 5.
So which three players have the best contracts on the roster for Cleveland at the moment, in terms of the team’s perspective, then?
#3 is one of the players that’s showed continued progression over the last two seasons.