The Cleveland Cavaliers have roster weaknesses to address this offseason, but they lack the financial flexibility to do so. This is the elephant in the room for a Cavs front office that, by the looks of it, publicly embracing a "let's run it back" philosophy to deal with the above.
It doesn't sound like the Cavaliers have a real shot at acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, especially with intel pointing to Cleveland's unwillingness to include Evan Mobley in a potential trade for Giannis. LeBron James in free agency also seems like a severe long shot, given the Cavs' cap space.
So ... how do you drastically improve this roster? Cavs owner Dan Gilbert suggested in a postseason tweet that Cleveland is "nowhere close" to where they need to be ... doesn't that imply a major roster move?
Cavaliers don't have the means to improve their roster with any major outside reinforcements
If the Cavaliers are committed to retaining their core four players moving forward, that means they are certainly going to have to get off the contracts of one or both of Max Strus and Dennis Schröder this summer. The idea there is to try and trade Strus and/or Schröder for draft capital and less salary coming back. As a result, you definitely give a larger role to Jaylon Tyson in 2026-27, and perhaps Tyrese Proctor is about to see more minutes, too.
These moves help financially, but do they make Cleveland a markedly better basketball team than in 2025-26? Fans and analysts looking on are scratching their heads at that question.
"If you don't go the route of bringing in Giannis ... if you don't end up bringing back LeBron, what is the best avenue to improvement?" Cavs writer Mack Perry wondered aloud this week. "How do you get more athletic out on the wings?"
Cavs' "run it back" propaganda is a lie to mollify fanbase, but no one's buying it
The sad reality is that Cleveland is hoping for addition by subtraction (because that's the only choice), and the Cavs' leadership is pushing the "run it back" plan as a positive one ... as if a 37-year-old James Harden just needs a full training camp with Cleveland to really make this team a contender. Right.
On the other hand, there's still a chance that Evan Mobley, who will turn 25 in June, takes the leap in 2026-27 that everyone's been waiting for. That's something for Cleveland's front office to pray for, because the Cavs certainly aren't going to be finding the key to massive improvement outside of their building this summer. We know how Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen are. But a new level from Mobley is still possible.
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