The Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to a free agent contract with former big man Larry Nance Jr. In doing so, they put the cherry on top of a perfect summer.
It's true that some teams made massive moves this offseason. The Houston Rockets added Kevin Durant, agreed to bargain contracts with their own players and added some key veterans. They did more to improve their standing than the Cavaliers did - but they had significantly more to work with, as well.
The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs added franchise-changing talents in the draft, but that's because they had to No. 1 and No. 2 picks, respectively. The Cavaliers had no such assets.
When you evaluate how teams did with what they started with, however, it's hard to find fault with anything the Cleveland Cavaliers did this summer. They came in with a roster above the second tax apron, with draft picks owed for a half-decade, and with the 49th and 58th picks in the NBA Draft. That is not a lot of ingredients with which to work with.
At the same time, the Cavaliers didn't need to start from scratch. They had a 64-win roster that secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season. Many of the ideas tossed around involved massive, risky changes to the team's core. That could have resulted in some new and much less potent concoction.
Instead, the Cavaliers looked at the landscape around them -- Achilles injuries to stars on three playoff teams, a New York Knicks franchise in flux, flawed lower-rung teams trying to upgrade -- and decided to stay the course. They kept their core players together and didn't make a single move to decrease salary and avoid the second tax apron.
The Cavaliers spun straw into gold
They used the 49th pick on Tyrese Proctor, a talented guard who fits their style. They traded Isaac Okoro, whose role on the team was increasingly marginalized, for a player in Lonzo Ball who is less expensive, a better fit and has a shorter contract. It was a coup of a move.
Rather than cry "second apron" the Cavaliers then re-signed Sam Merrill to a market extension, pushing further into the tax but bringing back a crucial piece of their rotation. They did say goodbye to Ty Jerome, but his defensive liabilities in the playoffs were real and having Ball in the short-term and Proctor in the long-term can mitigate the loss.
The final move, the coup de grace of their offseason, was signing old friend Larry Nance Jr. to a minimum contract. Nance will slot in as the third big on the team, able to play minutes at the 5 in the absence of either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley but also with the shooting and skill to play minutes at the 4. He was a perfect fit, and his injury issues are helped by the small role they will ask of him.
Nance is a phenomenal locker room guy and has a deep connection to the Cavaliers franchise after his father starred in Cleveland in the 1980s and 90s. Bringing him home to help compete for a championship is a move that sings -- the basketball fit and the narrative harmonize together. There may have been better centers available in free agency, but given the price point, it's hard to say there was a better center for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland is not only the favorite in the Eastern Conference next season, they are the favorites with a bullet. Owner Dan Gilbert is paying a large tax bill to keep the group together, and they have the players to make a deep run. Anything can happen in the next 11 months, but it's a very real possibility that the Cavaliers will be in the NBA Finals.
That won't be because of a minimum signing at center, but every piece matters and Nance could end up playing a significant role in a playoff run. Larry Nance Jr. is an excellent signing, a stretch big who plays hard and does all of the little things. Cleveland has needed such a player, and now they have one once again.
It's the cherry on top of a perfect offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers