It’s June 10, and we’re now less than two weeks from the 2022 NBA Draft, where the Cleveland Cavaliers are first set to pick at #14 overall.
The Cavaliers took a tumble down the closing stretch of the season, which did sting a bit, in comparison to much of the rest of the season, but it was a plus that they retained their first-round pick.
Cleveland didn’t make the postseason, so they kept their first because of their lottery-protection on that pick in the Caris LeVert trade with the Indiana Pacers; the same applies for next year, as an aside. I’d hope the Cavaliers are firmly in the postseason then, though.
In terms of the upcoming draft, it seems that the likes of Malaki Branham, Tari Eason, Ochai Agbaji, and to some degree, TyTy Washington Jr. and Jalen Williams, could be among prospects in-play there. The Cavaliers are also reportedly considering Dalen Terry and MarJon Beauchamp as possibilities, too. I’m with our own Justin Brownlow in thinking that’d be a reach for those guys, but we’ll see, and maybe a move happens involving Cleveland.
The Cavaliers are set to have two second-round picks at #39 and #56 as well, and former Wake Forest teammates Alondes Williams and Jake LaRavia could be nice options for the first second-rounder, to me. Maybe Christian Braun could be a guy to consider, too, among others.
For the Wine and Gold, though, the club has been linked to players such as Jerami Grant, Gordon Hayward, Harrison Barnes as potential trade targets, involving other possible elements to the offseason. And as far as free agency goes, provided they do have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason, set to be roughly $10.3 million, that could make a difference for them. Landing a viable backup point guard or wing shooter could help Cleveland there, in that realm, perhaps for a two or maybe three-year deal in this sense.
Some rumored potential targets include Ricky Rubio, who was great for Cleveland last season as an offseason trade acquisition prior to his ACL tear in late December, and it’s understandable why a possible Rubio return would appear to be likely. He had 13.1 points and 6.6 assists per contest in a supersub-type role in 34 games prior to his injury, but I do have my concerns involving his injury, the timing of when he could be fully back, per se, and he’ll be entering his age-32 season.
As far as others on the backup point guard front, I’d get if the Cavaliers strongly considered Delon Wright, too, another reported possibility. There are shooting limitations there, though.
Others could seemingly include Tyus Jones, a rumored possibility, and perhaps Dennis Schroeder could be a shot creation add.
All of that being said, whether or not Collin Sexton ends up being re-signed, regarding secondary playmaking, and which I do still believe is a good possibility, the aforementioned Jones would be such a sensible signing. Our own Josh Cornelissen astutely pointed out him as a possibility for Cleveland on Thursday, when it came to a few MLE targets. Here, I just thought I’d go a bit further on Jones, who is set to be unrestricted.
A Cavs’ potential Jones free agency signing would make so much sense.
Jones is a player that’s established himself as a quality backup point guard, and since signing with the Memphis Grizzlies, has done a nice job as a table setter in non-Ja Morant minutes, and played some with Morant as well.