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.
Wright is well-traveled, but he’s taken advantage when the chances have come over time
Wright is a player that spent his first three seasons with the Toronto Raptors, and he gradually came along with them, and in his third season, in particular, became a regular rotational contributor.
In the 2018-19 season, Wright was a piece traded to the Grizzlies as part of their then-deal for Marc Gasol, though, and did a fine job with them, before eventually being dealt again that ensuing offseason. He was brought in by the Dallas Mavericks via sign-and-trade before the 2019-20 season via three-year, nearly $28 million deal, and had 6.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 21.5 minutes per contest, in what was mostly a reserve combo guard role.
Wright was then traded again to the Detroit Pistons in November of 2020 in a multi-team deal, and then dealt again this time by Detroit to the Sacramento Kings near the 2021 deadline. From there, he was moved via trade for the third time in under a calendar year, this time another multi-team one where he was part of a package sent to the Hawks.
Needless to say, Wright has been a well-traveled guard in this league. However, he is a player that has consistently found ways to help his respective teams throughout that time, and it’s sensible that the Cavaliers could/would reportedly have interest in his services.
With the Pistons, mostly as a starter, he had 10.4 points and 5.0 assists per outing in 36 appearances, and with the Kings, he had 10.0 points and 3.6 assists as a bench guy with 25.8 minutes per game in 27 appearances. And from there, this season, while Wright had only 4.4 points and 2.4 assists in 18.9 minutes per contest, in 77 appearances, he again was a solid perimeter defender for Atlanta, as he’s typically been in his other stops.
The Hawks had Trae Young handling obviously the vast majority of primary playmaking duties, and others involved at other guard spots that were in key roles.
Anyway, with the Cavaliers, I’d definitely think Wright could be an impact free agency add, given that he is a more than capable backup point guard, given his track record over the last four seasons, especially, when the opportunities have been there.
What Wright could provide for the Cavs
The 30-year-old Wright can help get others good looks, and though he has been streaky from the perimeter, he has strides as a shooter, in the catch-and-shoot game, and would provide a legit rim pressure element. He hit 37.2 percent and then 37.9 percent from three the past two seasons, and has shot 35.4 percent in his career, albeit on 2.7 and 1.5 attempts, and overall, on 1.9 deep attempts through seven seasons. But the positive attributes are what stand out, and could help the Cavs.
Regarding those positives, while his presence could feasibly mean Caris LeVert could be expendable, perhaps during the season or via offseason trade, the Cavaliers could see how things are with that pairing in some lineups. Or whether or not that chance is there, I firmly believe Wright could play with one of Darius Garland or Collin Sexton (who seems likely to be back/feasibly extended) for stretches, and enable either or to get some quality off-ball looks.
Lastly, Wright, as we mentioned, is a quality defender, and when he’s in there, the 6-foot-5 Wright, while only listed at 185 pounds, is a multi-positional player on that end, and he is pretty put-together for that size.
He’s a competent screen navigator that can put pressure on opposing guards, and in some matchups, could hold his own against opposing 3s, as he has nice anticipation, and as also, as a team defender, diagnoses things well. That’s part of the reasoning as to why he’s had 2.0 steals per-36 minutes over the past four seasons.
Plus, regarding defense and team impact, Wright is a good rebounding guard, as evidenced by his 5.8 rebounds per-36 minutes over that aforementioned span. His transition awareness, to that point, is impressive, too, and I believe he could help Cleveland in the open floor game, in converting from some grab-and-go scenarios and in early-clock offense.
So, factoring in what we highlighted here, Wright could end up being a great, and perhaps somewhat under-the-radar, free agency addition by the Cavaliers this offseason. He hasn’t had a ton of postseason experience, as a side note, but he did have ample time in Atlanta’s first-round series loss to the top-seeded Miami Heat this year, and previously had some noteworthy postseason PT with Toronto.
We’d have to see if there’s interest from him/his camp in actually signing, however, I do think with the Cavaliers seemingly on the rise, there could be.