After a grueling eight months resulting in a disappointing finish, the 2025-26 season is now officially over for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Considering the way things ended, it is almost a guarantee that the Cavaliers take a hard look at their roster and address some glaring needs.
Despite having the 29th pick in the NBA Draft, the draft will be a very important day for Cleveland, as given its current financial situation (well over the second apron), acquiring a young, developmental piece that can help the team win now is paramount.
One of these key needs is undoubtedly frontcourt depth. The pairing of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen have been strung far too thin, especially in the regular season and to acquire a long term piece to exist both with and without them would do wonders for this group.
A player that both fits this description and could very plausibly be available when the Cavaliers make their selection is North Carolina's Henri Veesaar. The pick-and-pop center would add a level of dynamism, especially offensively, with his floor-spacing ability.
Veesaar has an NBA skillset
Hailing from Estonia, Veesaar was highly recruited in the 2022 class, coming in at 36th in the 247sports rankings.
Veesaar committed to Arizona, but played sparingly to begin his collegiate career. As a freshman in 2022-23, he appeared in 29 games, but averaged just 7.1 minutes per contest. Then, Veesaar was forced to redshirt in 2023-24 due to an elbow injury suffered in the preseason.
In today's era of NIL and the transfer portal, for a player to barely crack the rotation and then suffer a serious injury, it is incredibly rare to see a guy stick around in a program but Veesaar did just that. In 2024-25, he finally found a rotational role at Arizona and came into his own.
Veesaar operated as the primary sixth man and backup center on a talented Wildcat team that played a small ball style that truthfully was not very suitable to Veesaar's game, but nonetheless, he carved out a role.
In 20.8 minutes per game, Veesaar averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 59.2 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from three. Those numbers don't jump off the page, but on a team that lost in the Sweet Sixteen by seven to a dominant Duke team, Veesaar's impact was meaningful.
In fact, Veesaar's play in that Duke game was a sign on things to come, as he scored 13 points and collected six rebounds against the likes of Khaman Maluach, Patrick Ngongba and Maliq Brown, one of the best defensive big rooms in the country.
However, after 2024-25, Veesaar decided his days at Arizona were behind him and he transferred to North Carolina for 2025-26, with the hopes that the blue blood program would be the key to unlocking his value.
While not all transfers find the success they seek in their new homes, Veesaar certainly did. The 7'0'' 200 pound big man exploded as the starting center in Hubert Davis's offense, averaging 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 60.8 percent from the field. The stat that stands out the most is Veesaar's three-point leap. At Arizona, he was streaky at best, but at North Carolina, he began a true weapon from distance.
On three attempts per game, Veesaar shot a whopping 42.6 percent from three. His ability to pick and pop in various actions made the Tar Heels tough to stop and paired with Caleb Wilson, North Carolina's frontcourt was among the best in the sport.
Despite having a year of eligibility remaining, Veesaar decided to enter the NBA Draft, an understandable move given his breakout season.
His calling card is that shooting ability, and despite really having only one year as a credible shooter, the numbers were so strong that it becomes hard to argue against. He showed not only an ability to shot from deep, but he also shot 53.5 percent in the midrange, a strong mark. His free throw numbers may be a sign for concern, only 61.5 percent, but that concern shouldn't be anything other than mild.
Veesaar is also a very competent finisher at the rim. He may not have the athletic ceiling to be a consistent lob catching threat, but he has the size, strength and awareness to catch the ball, come down in traffic and finish.
He isn't exactly a hub, dynamic handler or playmaking threat, but Veesaar is a solid decision maker. His turnover rate was just 13.7 percent, solid numbers for a guy who will likely never be very high usage.
As mentioned above, Veesaar's biggest weakness is likely his level of athleticism. To be clear, he is not a bad athlete, but he definitely isn't a good one. He doesn't move super well both vertically or horizontally, understandable for someone his size but also a cause for concern. If he isn't a dominant rim protector or an offensive engine, what is his NBA ceiling?
Either way, his traits and offensive skillset give reasons for optimism, and a team like Cleveland will certainly be in his range come draft night.
Veesaar's role in Cleveland could be fluid
There are a multitude of avenues in evaluating how Veesar would fit with the Cavaliers.
Firstly, if the teams remains as currently constructed, Veesaar would primarily operate as a strictly backup big behind Mobley and Allen. This would behoove his development, as it gives him a longer runway and allows him to learn from two very talented frontcourt players.
Cleveland could also explore combinations of Mobley and Veesaar together, as with both of their shooting abilities the Cavaliers could have some of the best floor spacing in the league. Given both of their limittions, it feels unlikely to see both Veesaar and Allen play together at the same time.
However, Allen has been in trade talks for a while and it is no secret that Cleveland would like to get off his deal, so if Veesaar could prove to be a long term answer it could make Koby Altman's decision easier.
Now, let's get weird. The hypothetical scenario that would benefit both the Cavaliers and Veesaar the most would be a Mobley for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. The reasons this benefits Cleveland are both obvious and for another time, but for Veesaar, it presents him with the ideal frontcourt partner.
At North Carolina, Veesaar thrived with a freakishly athletic jumbo four who provided relentless rim pressure in Wilson. With Wilson's everlasting presence at the rim, Veesaar found boatloads of space on the perimeter, partially leading to his shooting leap. Antetokounmpo would fill that exact role, only at a higher level as teams would be focused on him rather than Veesaar.
This system has also worked for Antetokounmpo in the past as well. They aren't the exact same, but the iteration of Brook Lopez during his stint in Milwaukee is similar to Veesaar's archetype. A slower, stretch big who was a catch and shoot threat offensively and an intelligent drop coverage defender represents a high end outcome for Veesaar.
The biggest difference is that Lopez became an All-Defense level player and Veesaar is still very raw on that end, but the comparison remains crucial. Antetokounmpo thrived and won a championship with this pairing and Veesaar might be the closes thing that he may find in his career.
If the deal does come to fruition, it would almost certainly seal an exit for Allen, so Veesaar would have to step into a larger role quickly, but if it does, it would benefit him more than perhaps any situation in the league and be the perfect draft pick for the Cavaliers to make.
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