Cavs: 3 free agents to pursue after Lauri Markkanen signing

The Cleveland Cavaliers bided their time this offseason, making only a small handful of moves and letting the flurry of market activity pass them by. Then they took the reigns, making the headline deal of the last week of August, executing a sign and trade for Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen.

There are plenty of ways to look at the Markkanen deal, but at a minimum, it has to mean the team is done adding players at power forward. They recently signed 7’5″ center Tacko Fall to a training camp deal, but he is more of a flier than an addition expected to factor into the team’s rotation next season.

After adding Lauri Markkanen, the Cavs still have needs on the roster they can look to fill in free agency

The Cavaliers now have 10 players on guaranteed contracts and five players on non-guaranteed deals. While they can use a final spot on the roster to stream later on in the season, they should go into the season with 14 or 15 players on the roster and another two players on two-way deals.

What free agents still available could help fill a role for next season? The team could elect to add a defensive five to be the backup to Jarrett Allen if the team expects to sit or cut Kevin Love, or if they simply (and reasonably) don’t expect him to be healthy. They could also go for help on the wing, either another ball-handler or a floor-spacer. Let’s look at some of the options still available.