Cavs: 3 ways for Cleveland to fill out the remainder of the roster

3 ways for Cleveland to fill out the remainder of the roster: Trading spaces

A final option for the Cleveland Cavaliers in filling out their roster is to add players already under contract for 2021-22. Some teams have signed and traded their way into too many players and will need to cut down to 15 by the start of the season. Other teams have players on the books who don’t factor into their long-term future and could be brought on using Cleveland’s mid-level exception.

One example is John Konchar of the Memphis Grizzlies. The 6’5″ shooting guard averaged 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per-36 minutes last year, but is likely going to be the victim of a roster crunch for a Grizzlies squad currently loaded with 19 players. Cleveland could take on his salary for nothing, helping out the Grizzlies and adding a solid rotation guard to work behind Collin Sexton.

To go the route of a veteran player, the Cavs could help bolster their paper-thin small forward spot by trading for an older player like Wes Iwundu, who finds himself on the Charlotte Hornets via trade but is unlikely to stay there.

Chandler Hutchison was taken in by the San Antonio Spurs to allow the Washington Wizards to complete their massive five-team deal, and likely doesn’t factor into their long-term plans. Cleveland could trade him to alleviate the Spurs’ roster crunch and clear that money. Hutchison still has some upside and has good size at 6’6″ on the wing; he’s likely not going to become an NBA rotation player, but he might, and these kinds of dart throws are what a rebuilding team does.

Finally, the Cavs could go the way of adding a more valuable player who doesn’t seem to be highly valued by his current team. For example, the Orlando Magic have traded for a center and signed two more in the last six months, hardly a vote of confidence in Mo Bamba. The Cavs could send a second-round pick to the Magic and see if that pries Bamba loose.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a good position. They have a talented young core that have a reasonable shot at all fitting together, and are not rushing things to try and compete right away. That gives them flexibility in filling out the remainder of the roster before that start of next season.