Training Camp kicks off this week for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and 20 players will come together to learn the playbook, get into basketball shape and prove to the coaching staff that they deserve a roster spot, playing time or a new contract.
How will the team pare those 20 players down to 15? The first thing they will do is set aside the locks for the team, which mostly fills those spots up. For the final handful of spots they will seek to balance the team’s needs with the play of the guys in camp.
The Cavs will look for training camp and the preseason to help them narrow down the roster to a final 15 players. Who will make the cut?
Providing the Cavs with flexibility is the fact that so many of the players on the team have non-guaranteed contracts, both those on pure training camp deals or players from last year who still have not hit their guarantee date. While many teams are locked into place with their rosters, the Cavs only have 11 players on guaranteed contracts.
It might be tempting to assume that those final four spots don’t matter much, but the Cavaliers simply have to look to last season for an example of how injuries can warp a rotation. They were forced to call upon not only their 14th and 15th guys, but their two-way players as well.
With that in mind, it’s important that the team selects the right players to fill those spots, to balance short-term production with long-term potential, and successfully narrow this roster down to 15 before the season begins. Here’s our prediction of how things will go, with an explanation of the camp battles to watch.