As we get closer and closer to the offseason, we’ll likely get more information and reporting on likely Cleveland Cavaliers targets when it comes to wings on trade market and even potential players the Cavs are targeting using the Nontaxpayer Mid-Level Exception. The $12.2 million MLE the Cavs have is a pretty valuable asset, as they can find an impact player that will be a high end of the rotation-caliber of player that they’re counting on to improve the team.
The Cavaliers may have had a disappointing finish in the playoffs, but it shouldn’t be lost that this was still a very successful season, as the Cavs won 51 games. This should be the last time we strictly celebrate regular season success, but the good news is the Cavs don’t need much and have most things in place.
They’ve got a star-studded backcourt in Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, while Evan Mobley is viewed as having the most upside on the team and the key to unlocking the Cavaliers’ championship potential. The Cavs have the core of Mitchell, Garland and Mobley, so they don’t need much and it’s now just a matter of putting the right supporting pieces around those guys.
As far as the MLE, the Cavs could go about this in a couple different ways. They could break it up and use it on a couple different guys and they could use it on a big as they need a backup big badly. Those wouldn’t be wise decisions, though; its about quality, not quantity, and the Cavaliers could land an impact contributor instead with most, if not all of that MLE.
While Cleveland needs a backup big, using a decent or significant portion of that wouldn’t be the best use of resources. If I’m the guy, I’m targeting is Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics, who has been a rumored possible target for the Cavaliers.
The Cavs will have a list of guys they’ll look at for the MLE, but Williams is the best-case scenario for a number of reasons and would make all the sense in the world.
Here are three reasons why the Cavs should sign Williams with their MLE.
We’ll begin with the first reason, and how he’d fit alongside the core for years to come.
Reason No. 1: Age, upside and how he’d fit the timeline of the core
Simply put, one of the best things about Williams is he’s still very young and still has some upside to him. Grant Williams is only 24 years old and still has room to grow in other areas of his game. For example, Williams throughout his career has been a 3-and-D type of guy whose offensive role is a catch-and-shoot player on offense.
Williams will never be a guy you throw the ball to and he’ll create his own offense, but if the Cavs can use Williams more in the post on the low block he’d be a more versatile and more dangerous offensive option.
Aside from that again Williams is only 24 and he has some possible upside, too. He wouldn’t be a short-term solution, this is a guy that’s still very young and someone theoretically the Cavs could view as somebody that they can keep and be around with this young core for a long time.
The Cavs are still a young team and as far as the core guys go, Mitchell is entering his age 27-season next year, Garland his age-24 season and Mobley his age-22 season. Plus, Jarrett Allen, who is not in the same standing but is still meaningful, will only be in his age-25 season next year.
So, Williams would perfectly fit the age timeline and again could be a vital piece long-term.
Reason No. 2: Shooting
As it was fairly obvious in the playoffs, the Cavaliers’ downfall was the pure lack of shooting and spacing on the roster. Mitchell and Garland weren’t good enough, but the glaring lack of shooters and spacing made it very hard for them and the rest of the team to function offensively.
Grant Williams can’t and wouldn’t be the only addition the Cavs would make, it’d seem, however, Williams would certainly help the Cavaliers space the floor more.
WIlliams for his career is a 37.9 percent three-point shooter. This now-past season was Williams’ best year from a scoring standpoint in his career thus far.
Williams averaged 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 39.5 percent from three on an average of 3.7 attempts from that range. As the Cavs roster stands now, he would be Cleveland’s third-best shooter behind Garland and Mitchell and again would really help the spacing.
As of now if the Cavs added Williams, he’d feasibly be their starting 3, because he does play both sides of the court and just spaces the floor much more than Isaac Okoro at this point in his career. One should expect Cleveland to do other things this offseason, as they should be aggressive in what is a big year for this organization.
That said, hypothetically if the Cavs added Dorian Finney-Smith via trade, another player they’ve been linked to, you would see some lineups and even closing ones where they could have Garland/Mitchell, Finney-Smith/Williams at the 3/4 and Mobley as the center. Something like that obviously would open things up much more for Garland and Mitchell, but Mobley at the 5 for a stretch like this could also open up alot for him.
That would make the Cavs much tougher to guard offensively, but defensively they’d still be pretty stout.
Reason No. 3: Fits positional need
Signing someone like Grant Williams makes a ton of sense, because he also fills a positional need and solves some issues in other areas. The Cavaliers need more two-way players and Williams obviously fits that need as somebody who is a terrific defender and is someone who is a really good shooter as well, which is something the Cavs need.
If the Cavs are able to get a Finney-Smith or Royce O’Neale, they can do a number of things with Williams. Williams is a 3-and-D guy who can play both sides of the ball, but the Cavs also need someone more reliable who can play backup minutes at the 4 and Williams is capable of playing the 3 and the 4. I don’t think the Cavs will trade Allen this year, but finding someone more reliable that can play backup minutes at the 4 would solve some issues, too.
Williams would not be the most important target if we’re considering trades, because finding a true, natural small forward is the most important thing for the Cavaliers this offseason and Williams is more of a 3/4. Having said that, Williams definitely should be the number one option in terms of guys you can get potentially sign with the MLE, which is a pretty valuable chip for the Cavs.
Depending on what Boston does with Jaylen Brown, it’s going to be really hard for the Celtics to keep Williams if they give Brown the supermax, considering how restrictive the second apron of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is. Even if the Cavs need to do a sign-and-trade, they should consider doing so for Williams.
All in all, signing Williams with the MLE would be a home run for the Cavs.