The Cleveland Cavaliers had a clear and glaring need heading into the summer, and that was to add shooting at key positions. They did that, signing Max Strus and Georges Niang to juice their floor-spacing and outside potency. They also brought in Tristan Thompson recently to give them some rebounding power in the frontcourt.
That doesn’t mean every roster need has been addressed, however. This roster is one of the deepest in the NBA at multiple positions, but there are still weak points. Let’s look at the three roster holes this team has heading into training camp in two weeks, and how the team might address them.
One player archetype many thought that the Cavaliers would pursue this summer was a true stretch “big” who could defend centers and space the court. Those players aren’t necessarily growing on trees, but even a flier on a player such as Meyers Leonard could have given the Cavs a different look.
The idea would be to see what a lineup looked like with Evan Mobley still at power forward and roaming around the court causing destruction on defense, but on offense getting the spacing from spreading out four shooters around Mobley. As currently constructed, that’s not a lineup the Cavs can put on the court.
Options to fill the hole: Trading for Damian Jones and signing Tristan Thompson probably means this ship has sailed, but one very real possibility is increasing the role for Isaiah Mobley, whose outside shot is improving year over year. If the Cavs were to make a trade involving Jarrett Allen it’s also possible that they add a stretch-big to replace him.