The 2021 NBA offseason was a pivotal moment in the direction of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. After yet another year in the dregs of the lottery, they were armed with the No. 3 overall pick and relatively little cap flexibility. What steps could they take to improve the team?
It turned out to be quite a few. The Cavs drafted Evan Mobley third overall, traded for Ricky Rubio, re-signed Jarrett Allen, signed Kevin Pangos and executed a sign-and-trade for Lauri Markkanen. For those playing at home, that’s offseason Bingo!
The Cleveland Cavaliers were busy in the summer of 2021. One year later, let’s grade each move again and see how the Cavs did in a pivotal offseason
At the time we graded each move, looking at every angle and projecting how things would look in the future. That future has arrived, to some extent, and it’s now a good time to look back on the 2021 offseason. How did the Cavs do drafting, trading for and signing players?
We’ll look at each primary move in turn, starting with the drafting of Evan Mobley. How have those moves aged, and what would a new grade for that transaction be? Finally, we’ll put it all together and assign the Cavaliers a grade for their entire offseason. What grade would you give them? Hold that in your mind and see what we land on at the end.