Did the Cleveland Cavaliers do enough in the offseason?

While the NBA offseason is practically over for most teams, some other teams still have a few loose ends to take care of. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they seem to be done with their offseason for the most part.

Yes, they do have 13 players on the roster as of now, excluding two-way players, which probably means they’ll sign one more player before the season starts. But chances are, the player they’ll sign won’t be world-shattering, and will most likely be a minimum-level player.

During this offseason, the goal for the Cavs was to add players who can shoot from behind the arc, as well as not being a liability on defense. For the most part, they succeeded in their signings, as well as a few minor trades. The acquisitions for the Cavs were really part of that plan, and when it comes to next season, the Cavs look even better than they did last season.

So did the Cavs do enough this offseason? Let’s examine each move.

We’ll start with the first major move. The Cleveland Cavaliers participated in a three-team trade, where they sent both Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens to the San Antonio Spurs, while the Cavaliers got back Max Strus from the Miami Heat on a four-year, $62 million deal. The Cavaliers also sent a 2026 second-round pick via the Los Angeles Lakers to Miami, as well as sending their own 2030 second-round pick to the Spurs.

This trade was basically to get more offensive firepower, as Strus did shoot 41.0 percent from distance back in the 2021-22 season. That percentage dropped to 35.0 percent in the 2022-23 season, but Strus is still a great shooter, even if the stats didn’t show it last year. He has a good chance to be the starting small forward next year for the Cavs, even though he’s only 6’5.”

Next, the Cavs signed former Philadelphia 76er in Georges Niang to a three-year, $25 million deal. Nianig is a 40.3 percent shooter from the 3-point arc for his career, and shot 40.1 percent last season. For the Cavaliers, Niang will primarily play at the power forward spot, and be a very reliable catch-and-shoot threat.

This makes things a lot more difficult for a player like Dean Wade, as the backup power forward minutes will now have to be shared with Niang. Wade might not get a ton of playing time anymore, and might be traded at some point it seems. Wade is a better defender overall, but Niang is not as streaky of a shooter that Wade is.

For the last part of the Cavs’ free agency, they signed Ty Jerome to a two-year, $5 million contract, as well as trading for former Utah Jazz big man Damian Jones for cash. Both of those were relatively under-the-radar moves, but are still important moves for the team nonetheless. They didn’t cost the Cavs much, but they’ll both still probably get a decent amount of playing time.

With the last of the moves for the Cavs, they signed Craig Porter Jr., Isaiah Mobley, and Emoni Bates all to two-way contracts. These last signings aren’t really anything special, as all three of these players will probably play a lot of their season down in the G-League for the Cleveland Charge.

Yes, the Cavs did make a ton of moves in the offseason, but will it be enough? The Cavaliers’ main priority as of now is to add to the offense, as they already have one of the NBA’s best defenses as of now. Their 3-point shooting needed to be improved, and with their acquisitions, they really improved in that department.

Will these moves be able to get Cleveland over the hump, and actually be able to push them into the conversation of the NBA’s best contenders? Well, it might be too soon to say that for certain, but the team does look a lot better than it has in a long time.

The Cleveland Cavaliers did spend a lot of money this offseason, and will soon be pretty cash-strapped, especially since Evan Mobley is eligible for an extension next offseason, and he’s more than likely going to get the maximum amount for his next contract.

Hopefully, for the Cavaliers’ sake, these moves are enough to get themselves into NBA title contention, but until the season starts, we won’t know.