Cavs should consider signing RFA Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk to offer sheet

While reported potential free agency wing targets such as Doug McDermott, Reggie Bullock, Alec Burks and Tony Snell, among others, are no longer on the market for the Cleveland Cavaliers, it wasn’t necessarily surprising that they struck out on those sort of names.

Cleveland is not exactly a free agency destination, and the Cavs aren’t likely high on lists of players as a landing spot currently.

That said, a few quality wing shooters that Cleveland could still look to pursue with feasibly part of their $9.5 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception could be the likes of Denzel Valentine and James Ennis, for instance.

Although, as a side note, regarding wings, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor did recently report that the Cavs have had discussions with the New Orleans Pelicans about a potential sign-and-trade centered on Josh Hart, who is a restricted free agent.

While Hart is a quality defender and can rebound at a high level for a player only 6-foot-5, and can provide some tertiary playmaking, this possibility is not something I’m crazy about for Cleveland.

Hart is not a floor spacer, and one shouldn’t be thrilled about giving up assets possibly for Hart, whose role is admittedly not a clearcut one for the Cavs, even while I could understand their interest. Fedor did state in his report how sign-and-trades are not at all a simple scenario often too, though.

So on the wing subject, while he’s not a player that’s near that of the first group of wing shooters mentioned, a player that I’d be on-board with the Cavaliers pursuing with a restricted free agent offer sheet at this point could be Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.

The Cavs should consider signing Mykhailiuk to an offer sheet, with how he could bolster their shooting and off-ball play.

The Oklahoma City Thunder recently extended Mykhailiuk a qualifying offer for $2 million, so an offer sheet could be matched by them, but I couldn’t fault Cleveland for signing him to an offer sheet.

Mykhailiuk has bounced around in his three seasons, first starting out with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he’s been moved twice to the Detroit Pistons, and then Detroit moved him and a future second-round pick to the Thunder in mid-March before the deadline last season. That was in exchange for Hamidou Diallo.

I suggest Cleveland consider pursuing Mykhailiuk due to his shooting abilities, getting down to it. He has bounced around, as we noted, but he is a polished shooter that knock down three-point looks off movement, is a floor spacing presence, and has shown flashes off-the-bounce via pull-ups and countering of hard closeouts.

Now, Mykhailiuk’s three-point shooting clip of 36.2 percent on 4.2 attempts per game in three seasons doesn’t necessarily scream knockdown shooter. But his deep range coming off screens and in spot-ups from ball-swings has been on display enough to make him an impactful shooter.

The Cavs were last in the league in three-point shooting last season, and were 28th in three-point attempts per game. And for a Cleveland team that needs a meaningful wing shooter for bench stretches, with the Dylan Windler injury history and the uncertainty with his outlook, Mykhailiuk I believe would be a sensible restricted free agency target.

He could provide the Cavs with a highly capable shooter that can help open up driving lanes in stretches for Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, and could aid spacing off-ball, which could help open passing lanes for Ricky Rubio and others.

Plus, at 6-foot-7, Mykhailiuk could feasibly play in spurts/stretches at the 2 and 3 for the Cavs, with Isaac Okoro at the 2 with him at times, for context.

So overall, while I’d be fully on-board with the Cavaliers targeting the likes of potential trade targets such as Terrence Ross, Dillon Brooks or could be with Cleveland possibly signing restricted free agent Terence Davis to an offer sheet, as KJG’s Josh Cornelissen suggested, Mykhailiuk is also a player I’d advocate for.

I would think in this case, perhaps a two-year deal for roughly $11 million, factoring in how Mykhailiuk did show promise with OKC last season with 10.3 points per outing, could maybe do it, but OKC might not match.

Moreover, though Mykhailiuk is not one of the other wings mentioned, he is a quality off-ball contributor that can still help open up more offense for on-ball threats, and he has nice cutting sense and solid size.

With players such as Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in mind, too, he’d be a meaningful pickup, in my opinion. So perhaps Cleveland might have interest in pursuing Svi via restricted free agency.