Pros and cons of Cavs signing T.J. Warren in free agency

Pros of Cavs signing T.J. Warren in free agency

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a gaping hole at small forward. They filled it two years ago with a 6’5″ shooting guard named Isaac Okoro; they filled it last year with a seven-foot stretch-big named Lauri Markkanen. Caris LeVert is a 2-guard and Dean Wade is a 4, but both will likely fill in at the 3 this season if the team doesn’t sign another 3.

The Cavs had a solid season last year, and they could survive going into the season without a true small forward in the rotation, but finding a two-way 3 to come aboard would be a huge boon for this roster and its lineup versatility. T.J. Warren, at 6’8″, fits that description perfectly.

Warren came into the league as a midrange aficionado who avoided 3-pointers whenever possible, but his touch was tremendous and has held up as he expanded his game outwards. In his last healthy season of 2019-20 he shot 40.3 percent on 3.4 long-range attempts per game.

That season was also Warren’s third-straight averaging at least 18 points per game as he blossomed into an excellent secondary scorer. In the Bubble at the end of that season he became even more, averaging 31 points per game. He is hyper-efficient inside the arc as well, and overall that year had a 58.1 effective field goal percentage, Top-20 in the league.

Warren is not a true lockdown defender but he isn’t a sieve, either, something of a league-average guy on that end of the court. Given the backline he will play with of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen he should be well supported, and has enough strength to switch onto bigs in some situations. He played all the way down to small-ball 5 for the Pacers in the Bubble, and his shooting means he could slide up even to the 2 in massive lineups.

The fit of Warren is tremendous. Why wouldn’t the Cavs want to sign him?