4 Cleveland Cavaliers who may not be back next season

Caris LeVert may not be back next season

This is the most obvious option among the Cavaliers’ rotation, as Caris LeVert will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1st. LeVert’s fit on the Cavs was tricky even before they traded for Donovan Mitchell, and now his on-ball style is entirely duplicative of the Cavs’ two backcourt stars, relegating LeVert to a bench role.

To his credit he has bought into that role well, and embraced his role on offense and defense. He seems to love being in Cleveland, and his teammates speak his praises too. He could absolutely decide to sign a fair contract to continue as this team’s sixth man moving forward.

The other side of the coin, however, is that his skillset is desired around the league and he will likely have plenty of suitors in free agency. Will one of them be willing to pay him money north of $15 million per season? If so, and LeVert sees a path to both a payday and a starting role, he very possibly will take it.

That could come by signing straight-up with a cap space team, or it could come through a sign-and-trade. In that scenario, LeVert heading out could mean another player or draft capital is heading in. If he simply walks, however, the Cavs won’t have meaningful cap space to replace him.