The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently set to have four expiring contracts on their roster heading into 2020-21.
Despite being cap restricted, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been able to make multiple moves to better prepare them for the future. These moves have set them up to have multiple expirings on the roster which means that they will have decisions to make on these players.
The players at hand are Andre Drummond, Dante Exum, Matthew Dellavedova and JaVale McGee.
Each of these players has different value to the team it will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers view each of these players’ values.
With that being said, we’ll have to see what plays out, but it’s relevant to look into.
Here, I’ll try to predict the approach the Cavs will take in regards to the four players listed above.
The first relates to a defensive guard.
Predicting what the Cavs will do with the expiring Dante Exum
Dante Exum’s time with the Cavaliers has been interesting for the most part. Exum was part of the very first trade of the 2019-20 season, seeing the Cavaliers part ways with Jordan Clarkson and acquire Exum alongside multiple second-round picks at that point.
So far for the Cavs, Exum has averaged 5.6 points per game on limited minutes, included a career-high 28 points in a loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the Cavaliers, Exum provides versatility defensively and this gives him the ability to play in different lineups. The issue for Exum has never been his defense but rather, what he can provide offensively.
One of Exum’s biggest flaws has been his lack of a consistent three-point shot and as a guard, the three-pointer is crucial. Also, Exum isn’t that great of a facilitator to be a full-time point guard and doesn’t have the off-ball ability to be a full-time 2-guard.
Looking at the Cavs’ roster, they have Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr., Matthew Dellavedova and newly-acquired Damyean Dotson all running the guard positions for the team and the argument could be made that they deserve playing time over Exum.
One interesting thing to look at is Damyean Dotson and his signing may hint at Exum’s time with the Cavaliers coming to an end. Dotson isn’t that much worse of a defender than Exum but brings a lot more on offense with his shot-creating/shooting abilities.
All in all, Exum doesn’t seem like a tradeable piece as teams have been prepping for the 2021 free agency class. There isn’t really a need for an expiring contract on most, if not all of the NBA teams that have a shot at a big-time free agent this offseason.
Prediction: Exum is not re-signed by the Cavs/walks in the next free agency period
The next expiring piece for the Cavs we’ll take a look at is Matthew Dellavedova.
Predicting what the Cavs will do with the expiring Matthew Dellavedova
Matthew Dellavedova is a fan-favorite and it looks as if he is here to stay. Not only does Dellavedova give the Cavs depth at the point guard position, but he is also a great locker room guy and a veteran presence for the young guys.
In Delly’s deal, he also reportedly has the ability to veto any potential trade, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, so he won’t be going anywhere for at least this season, one would think. Delly can be the Cavs’ Nick Collison or Udonis Haslem and having a player like that would be great for Cleveland.
Prediction: The Cavs re-sign Matthew Dellavedova
From here, we’ll take a look at two key bigs, the first being Drummond.