The second apron may force the Cleveland Cavaliers to break up the core four earlier than anticipated, and a new trade suitor may have materialized after night one of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Cleveland is one of the few franchises stuck in the clutches of the second apron. It restricts access to any free agency exceptions, denies teams the opportunity to take back extra money in a trade or stack salaries to match another and can ultimately freeze a first-round pick seven years into the future and force it to be the last overall selection for that round.
This is the threshold the Cavaliers have passed this offseason with three players on maximum contracts for Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, and the maximum possible extension handed to Jarrett Allen. Adding De'Andre Hunter's $23 million salary and Max Strus' $15.9 million price tag, those five players alone are enough to place the Cavs just $4 million below the first apron. Needless to say, the Cavaliers' cap sheet is inflated, leaving the team few options to improve without reforming the core.
While the Cavs do not seem to feel it necessary to reshape the core group, ESPN insider Brian Windhorst confirmed that Cleveland engaged in numerous trade calls that would have sent Darius Garland to the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant. Though the deal fell through, the Cavs were actively investigating the possibility after the Suns began the conversations. If Garland's $39.4 million salary is too high to trade, Allen may become the next candidate seriously on the market.
Charlotte Hornets could be a Jarrett Allen landing spot
Early in the 2025 draft, the Charlotte Hornets agreed to a deal with the aforementioned Suns to send Mark Williams to The Valley, lessening Charlotte's frontcourt depth. The Hornets now only have one real center in Jusuf Nurkic, a 30-year-old veteran big man. Considering Charlotte's overall young average age, Nurkic is unlikely to fit into the team's timeline for contention.
Without Williams on the team, Charlotte could be looking for their next long-term starting five. Given Allen's continued success as a low-usage, high-effort frontcourt presence and defensive anchor, placing him alongside LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller could create an interesting core for a franchise trapped in a perennial rebuild.
Trading Allen to Charlotte would not give the Cavs much frontcourt depth in return, a role the front office has consistently neglected in recent years. If, though, the Hornets offered the Cavaliers a package including a cheaper talent like Josh Green and future draft compensation, Cleveland would likely not hang up the call.
As the Cavs survey the trade landscape, collecting draft picks to send out in future deals could be the piece the Cavaliers need to secure improved depth at the center spot and other roles. Additionally, freeing up cap space (Green for Allen would relieve the Cavs of almost $6.5 million) would give Cleveland an easier pathway to re-signing Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill. Although this series of transactions would keep the Cavaliers in the second luxury tax tier, they could enter the next season with their overall salary sheet spread out among more players rather than consolidated in a select few.
At some point, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the harsh truth of the second apron, and if they have not achieved the ultimate goal of an NBA Finals victory by then, it could decimate the long-term future of the franchise. Considering three years of playoff embarrassment, the Cavs cannot sit idly by and ignore the unforgiving tax code installed this offseason. Allen may, unfortunately, be the first name to face the repercussions.