Cavs: Ranking every offseason move from worst to best

Things started slowly this offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers. None of their key players was due to hit unrestricted free agency, they made a small trade to turn little-used Taurean Prince into Ricky Rubio. They had just a single pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and they brought back restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen in the opening minutes of free agency. Then: crickets.

While other teams made a flurry of moves, at times completely remaking their rotations, the Cavs sat tight. Despite at least one open roster spot and access to their full mid-level exception there was no movement on the free-agent front.

Then things began to happen fast weeks into free agency, when nearly every other team had already exhausted their resources. Larry Nance Jr. was flipped for Lauri Markkanen and the team brought in Tacko Fall, Kevin Pangos, and Denzel Valentine to provide a number of different options off the bench.

The Cleveland Cavaliers remade their bench this offseason. Here’s a ranking of their five biggest moves from worst to best.

Not all moves are created equal. Some are upside swings, trying to capture a return much larger than the investment. Other moves are safer bets, either because of a player’s talent level or the resources used to add them.

How did the Cleveland Cavaliers do? Let’s break down each of their five biggest moves individually and rank them from the “worst” move to the “best” one, with each move evaluated based on risk, cost, upside and whether it makes sense given the Cavaliers’ timeline. That means we start with the most recent signing, former Chicago Bulls wing Denzel Valentine.