Cavs recently linked to free agent Bryn Forbes for his sharpshooting

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a no-brainer move in selecting Evan Mobley in the 2021 NBA Draft, and the USC product has the potential to be a big-time contributor early on for the Wine and Gold. I’m glad the Cavs didn’t overthink that one.

It was a wise move for them to land Ricky Rubio via trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves a bit before the draft too, with how I believe he’ll stabilize the backup point guard spot, which was one that didn’t have continuity last season.

So with those roster moves in mind of late, it is still apparent that Cleveland should be looking to add wing shooting in 2021 NBA Free Agency, though. Taurean Prince was sent out in that Rubio trade, and when healthy, he was a capable shooter for the Cavs in bench stretches; the issue was he couldn’t stay healthy and with him expiring, I can’t blame the Cavs for moving him.

The backup point guard position needed to be addressed, and with Prince a logical trade candidate for helping potentially that way, this was a sensible move.

That said, with the roughly $9 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the Cavaliers do still need to look to add perimeter shooting, and I’d imagine they will. The likes of Doug McDermott, Reggie Bullock and maybe even Alec Burks or Wayne Ellington could be potential targets, although it’s unclear what the interest level could be for them in signing with the Cavs.

In regards to another target that could aid Cleveland’s shooting though, that could reportedly be Bryn Forbes, per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer. Fischer did state in his report how “a leading candidate” for signing Forbes is the Brooklyn Nets, in fairness, but he noted how the Cavs, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans are other clubs to “keep an eye on” for Forbes.

Forbes reportedly declined his $2.45 million player option for next season per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, so he’ll be unrestricted, for further context.

The Cavs being linked to Forbes is strictly due to his elite perimeter shooting.

Forbes didn’t have nearly the role he had in the regular season in the last two rounds of the Milwaukee Bucks’ championship run, but he was productive for them in the regular season for Milwaukee and has established himself as a knockdown shooter.

Forbes in the two seasons prior to last had 11.8 points and 11.2 points per outing with the San Antonio Spurs, and before signing with the Bucks last season was demonstrating how he can be impactful as a terrific shooter coming off screens/off movement.

And he’s made strides as a pull-up shooter in the mid-range as well. Last season, he hit 52.5 percent of his pull-up two-point attempts per outing in the 2020-21 regular season on a frequency of 22.7 percent, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data.

Although I acknowledge Forbes could provide a shooting boost for Cleveland, who had the lowest three-point shooting percentage last season, and was 28th in triple attempts per game, how he’d fit in with the Cavs isn’t clearcut.

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Forbes is a heck of a shooter, and I’m not glossing over that, but even with Collin Sexton potentially being a trade piece, it’s tough to foresee him as a suitable starting 2.

And if Sexton sticks around, which he feasibly could still, what would the minutes-share be for him?

Forbes could hit with Darius Garland in spurts, along with Ricky Rubio, but he’s not nearly the shot creator of Sexton, and would the Cavs want him to cut into Sexton’s minutes that much? Isaac Okoro should get playing time at the 2 in non-Garland minutes, one would assume, too.

Even with Forbes potentially more team-friendly for Cleveland in 2021 NBA Free Agency, than others, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor suggested in a recent report, I question the possible fit with the Cavs for him.

However, with others such as Evan Mobley in the fold, Okoro, Larry Nance Jr. and Jarrett Allen, perhaps Forbes’ defensive, playmaking and size deficiencies could be somewhat mitigated. Some minutes for Forbes with Rubio could help to an extent, too, for what it’s worth.

In any case, we’ll have to see what plays out regarding Forbes as a potential target for Cleveland, and per Fischer’s report, he could very well just end up with Brooklyn anyway.

Cleveland’s interest, with Forbes’ elite shooting capabilities, including him hitting 45.2 percent from three on 4.9 attempts in 19.3 minutes per outing in the regular season, does make potential interest in the 27-year-old understandable, though.

But I’d still prefer the Cavaliers to be targeting a wing shooter, anyhow. And an additional reserve 5 could be in the cards with some of the MLE, one would imagine, given that Isaiah Hartenstein was not extended a qualifying offer, per a report from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto on Sunday.

Now, Hartenstein could still seemingly re-sign, albeit with Jarrett Allen’s restricted free agency and Mobley in the fold, it’s uncertain. Either way, Forbes appears to definitely be on the Cavs radar.