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.
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Drafting Evan Mobley
The Cleveland Cavaliers were really bad in the 2020-21 NBA season, winning just 22 games despite Collin Sexton’s high-scoring season. Thanks to the incentive structure of the NBA, their ineptitude gave them a great chance of picking high in the 2021 NBA Draft. The Draft Lottery saw them land third, a great spot to be in what was considered at the time a four-player draft at the top.
Cade Cunningham would have been an incredible fit with this roster, but he went first overall. Jalen Green went second, leaving the Cavs to take Evan Mobley third. At the time it seemed the obvious pick, as Jalen Suggs was exceptionally superfluous on a team with Darius Garland and Collin Sexton.
It turned out to be more than obvious; it was incredible, as Evan Mobley was NBA-ready from the jump. He started making standout defensive plays from the start, defending Trae Young in space in his third career game and earning the eyes of the national media. That didn’t let up either, as he was highly impactful on that end all season long. Offensively he is more of a work in progress, but he still averaged 15 points per game and flashed excellent passing work from the elbow.
Mobley is a clear-cut top-3 player in this draft and they took him third; they should get some credit for not taking Suggs and for taking Mobley despite the presence of Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love. In the end they walked away from the draft with a generational two-way talent who would have gone No. 1 in this year’s draft, or in many others. That’s a standout job.
New Grade: A
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Ricky Rubio trade
It’s difficult to grade the trade for Ricky Rubio last summer. The week of the NBA Draft the Cavs sent a second-round pick along with Taurean Prince to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rubio, a well-known player who has oscillated between budding star and injured unknown throughout his career. Now, as a veteran, he was simply a question mark.
That question was answered resoudingly last season, as Rubio proved to be the key to unlocking the very best this Cavaliers roster had to offer. From his off-court experience and levity to his on-court passing and defense, Rubio’s impact on the Cavs was undeniable. It was a slam dunk of a trade.
Then injury struck, and Rubio tore his ACL. Suddenly the Cavs were stuck without a backup point guard, a problem that became even worse when Darius Garland missed time and Kevin Pangos proved unplayable (more on him later). It’s impossible to predict injuries exactly, but the Cavs knew when they traded for Rubio that he has a long injury history.
Having Rubio’s contract on the books at least allowed them to match salary in a trade, and so the Cavs moved Rubio and some picks for…Caris LeVert, which thus far has been something akin to a disaster of a move, spending some of their assets on a player who isn’t very scaleable into a supporting role on a really good team.
When we re-graded this deal a few months ago, we slapped a “B” on it. Rubio was awesome when he played, but his loss really hurt the Cavs as well. That will be amended up slightly, as clearly their time together motivated the Cavs to re-sign Rubio this summer, and Rubio was clearly amenable to doing so. The fact that their time together made a reunion possible adds a little to this as well.
New Grade: B+
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Jarrett Allen contract
Jarrett Allen should be on the Houston Rockets. He should be their cornerstone building block right now, starting alongside Jabari Smith Jr. and setting screens for Jalen Green. Instead, when the Rockets traded James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, they preferred another pick over Allen. That allowed the Cavs to swoop in and trade for Allen. A few months later, in the summer of 2021, they annouced a five-year, $100 million deal the minute free agency began.
At the time, that looked like an overpay; not because Allen was overrated or not worth a strong commitment, but because the market probably wasn’t there to pay him that much. The Cavs probably could have negotiated a slightly lower number. That being said, Allen’s dominant play last season has made that contract look even better.
Offensively he was one of the league’s best finishers, setting hard screens and knowing the perfect cadence and positioning of rolling to the basket. He has soft hands, not a given at the center position, and could both dunk lobs and snag rebounds to put back in. On defense he was a premier rim protector and formed an amazing partnership with Evan Mobley.
Allen’s play earned him an All-Star berth, and it was his injury absence late in the season that saw the Cavs fall into the Play-In Tournament and miss the playoffs. Allen’s contract is a flat $20 million per season, which as time goes on will take up a smaller percentage of the cap each year. When compared to a player like DeAndre Ayton, Allen will likely provide 90% or more of the impact at just 65% of the price. That’s a bargain.
New Grade: A-
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Sign-and-trade for Lauri Markkanen
After trading for Ricky Rubio and re-signing Jarrett Allen, all by the first day of free agency, the Cavs went silent. While outsiders speculated on what other moves the team could make, nothing concrete floated its way out of Koby Altman’s office.
Then seemingly out of nowhere, the Cavs struck, trading Larry Nance Jr. to the Portland Trail Blazers and receiving Lauri Markkanen back from the Chicago Bulls in a three-team sign-and-trade. Markkanen was in a state of limbo, with a shot that ran hot and cold and a Bulls organization that didn’t really want him anymore. He found his home in Cleveland.
Markkanen started at the 3 for the entire season, another surprise move, this time by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. The Cavs’ “Tower City” lineup was very effective, with a +7.9 net rating when Markkanen shared the court with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. His shot was somewhat cold, as he hit only 35.8 percent from outside, but teams still defended him out there.
The Cavs could theoretically have found a true 3-and-D wing on the market, but Markkanen has filled in capably and with his shot falling would be even more valuable. Long-term he looks like the heir apparent to Kevin Love’s role as the stretch big backing up Mobley and Allen, but for now he looks penciled in for the starting small forward position again this year. The salary is a little high, but fine, and giving up Nance was painful but helped make this roster work a bit more.
New Grade: B+
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Signing Kevin Pangos
Two seasons ago, the Cavs’ point guard position was a disaster. Darius Garland missed significant time and was up-and-down as a second-year player. The guard-salad of options who filled in for him included a washed-up Matthew Dellavedova (you can love him and still recognize that), Quinn Cook, Yogi Ferrell, Jeremiah Martin and Dante Exum. It was hard to watch.
The Cavs were aggressive in solving that problem. Last summer they not only traded for Ricky Rubio, instantly one of the best backup PGs in the league, but they signed Kevin Pangos to a deal as their third point guard. The former Gonzaga guard was one of the best players in Europe before joining the Cavs.
Then injuries struck, with Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio both suffering season-ending injuries. When Garland was put in health and safety protocols it was suddenly the exact moment that the Cavs had signed Pangos for. And….he bombed. Completely and utterly bombed.
Pangos averaged 1.6 points per game in 24 total appearances, shooting 32.6 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from deep. His 30 assists to seven turnovers is a nice ratio, but far too few assists for a lead guard. And before you think those numbers are merely depressed by his small role, in his three starts he averaged less than six points per game and had an average on/off of -5.7.
This was a whiff, plain and simple. The Cavs had to scramble to find any lead guard help with Garland out and were better off plugging in two-way players behind Garland once he returned. There is no sugar-coating it; the only good thing is that he wasn’t signed to a longer-term contract.
New Grade: D
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Waiting on Sexton extension
When a first-round rookie on a standard rookie-scale contract completes his third season in the league, he becomes eligible for an extension that will kick in the following summer, for his fifth-year and beyond. Each summer a handful of max rookie extensions are handed out early in free agency, and then other non-max deals trickle in for the next few months up until the late-October deadline.
That’s what happened to the Class of 2018, with young stars like Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander agreeing to max deals. Jaren Jackson Jr., Mikal Bridges, Kevin Huerter and Robert Williams III all agreed to non-max deals during the window. A record 11 players from that draft class signed extensions, an NBA-record. Collin Sexton and the Cavaliers, however, were unable to come to terms.
Such an extension would have reportedly been in the range of four-years, $100 million to get Sexton to agree to it. Paying a dynamic young guard $25 million per season was defensible, but it was clearly unwise for the Cavs to have signed. Even if Sexton hadn’t had season-ending knee surgery, his performance has been a lot of scoring and not a lot of elevating his team; scoring is imporant, and Sexton brings a lot of things to the table, but at the end of the day he is floor-raising and ceiling-lowering in a primary role.
The upside to waiting was that Sexton’s market value went down significantly. The downside is that there still isn’t resolution, and there may not be until the Cavs gather more information about their future situation, either from a potential extension for Caris LeVert (who technically plays the same position as Sexton) or word from LeBron James on his status with the Lakers. Sexton could still elect to play on the qualifying offer this season and then leave in free agency next year.
If given the choice between paying Sexton $25 million per season or dealing with this summer’s drama, it’s clear that the Cavs made the right call. The best scenario would have been to convince Sexton to sign a lower-level deal, but that wasn’t realistic given Sexton’s view of himself as an elite scoring threat.
New Grade: A-
Regrading the Cavs’ entire 2021 offseason: Overall Grade
The 2021 offseason propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers from lottery losers to the very doorstep of the playoffs, and nothing looks like a fluke. They were overwhelmed by injuries, professional shooter Lauri Markkanen shot poorly and they still more than doubled their win total. The Cavs look like a great bet to maintain that success.
That’s in large part because of multiple great moves from the summer of 2021. Drafting Evan Mobley at No. 3 was something of a no-brainer, but it turned out to be the selection of a future superstar. Jarrett Allen was re-signed and promptly made his first All-Star team. Markkanen was able to slide up and start at the 3 for a lineup that worked exceedinly well.
There were certainly stumbles, including signing Kevin Pangos and Denzel Valentine (another D move) to roster spots when neither is an NBA player. Not handing Collin Sexton a deal was the right decision, but it also had the Cavs in a bit of a bind this summer as he still doesn’t have a contract. Ricky Rubio was awesome when he was healthy, but he predictably got injured and sent the Cav’s backcourt into something of a spiral.
In the end, the summer was an unequivocal positive, a step in the right direction that could be the foundation for the next great Cleveland team. If you’re going to make mistakes, make them with the 12th and 13th men on the roster, and nail the moves with the stars. So far so good for the Cavs.
New Overall Grade: A-