The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t make the postseason, which was a bit disappointing, based on how the team was performing for much of this season.
Still, the Cavaliers did have 44 wins, a 22-win improvement from the season prior, and on the plus side, and it’s meaningful that Cleveland has another lottery selection, that being #14, in next month’s draft. Cleveland should be able to grab a meaningful player, with Tari Eason, Malaki Branham, TyTy Washington Jr., Dyson Daniels, or perhaps Mark Williams being targets at #14.
The Cavaliers also are set to have two second-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft as well, and Christian Braun, Bryce McGowens, among others could be possible targets, one would think. We’ll see if the team looks to make those selections.
As far as other offseason moves, the Cavaliers could seemingly be looking to make a trade/trade(s), too, one would assume, and/or look to make a move in free agency.
That’s with how the Cavs do have some pieces such as Cedi Osman/Dylan Windler and/or other potential expendable pieces, and while I personally believe it’d be premature, Lauri Markkanen could, in theory, be part of a trade package. The same goes for draft capital in the near future and/or Cleveland’s #14 pick next month, it appears.
Here, though, I wanted to highlight free agency a bit, where the Cavaliers could feasibly look to make a meaningful addition via their roughly $10 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. This would be for the first year of a possible multi-year or one-year deal, in that sense, and backup point guard would seem to be a sensible add there.
The Cavs’ trade acquisition of Ricky Rubio last offseason from the Minnesota Timberwolves proved to be great for the team, and then he unfortunately tore his ACL in late December. There have been rumors/reports of Rubio potentially returning to Cleveland this offseason, for what it’s worth. His expiring contract was part of the deal that brought Caris LeVert to Cleveland from the Indiana Pacers.
I’d understand if Cleveland looked to bring back Rubio, but he’ll be in his age-32 season next year, and he might not be fully back, per se, until next January/February it’d seem. I’d rather Cleveland go a different direction.
Some other targets, to that point, the Cavaliers would have interest in, if they veered away from Rubio, would reportedly be the Memphis Grizzlies’ Tyus Jones, the Atlanta Hawks’ Delon Wright, the Brooklyn Nets’ Goran Dragic and the Washington Wizards’ Raul Neto. That’s per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) as of late last month, and there could be others to come, one would assume.
Of those guys, or potentially others in theory at primary playmaker/wing, Wright definitely stands out to me as a possible target.
Wright would be an impactful free agency add for the Cavs this offseason.
First, we’ll examine the to-be unrestricted free agent Wright’s path, and examine how he’s gotten his production in recent years, as the opportunities have increased.