Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Free agent signings
- None
Trades
- None
Draft picks
- 1-20: Jaylon Tyson
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $16,118,700).
Two-way signings
- Emoni Bates
- JT Thor
- Note: Thor’s deal has been reported but isn’t yet official.
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Damian Jones (Zhejiang)
- Isaiah Mobley (unsigned)
- Marcus Morris (unsigned)
- Pete Nance (unsigned)
- Isaac Okoro (unsigned)
- Note: Okoro is a restricted free agent; the Cavaliers still have a $11,828,974 qualifying offer on the table.
- Tristan Thompson (unsigned)
Contract extensions
Signed Evan Mobley to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension that begins in 2025/26. Projected value of $224,238,150 (starting at 25% of the cap). Projected value can increase to $246,661,965 (27.5% of the cap) or $269,085,780 (30% of the cap) if Mobley meets Rose Rule performance criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker.
- Signed Donovan Mitchell to a three-year, maximum-salary veteran extension that begins in 2025/26. Projected value of $150,316,884. Includes third-year player option.
- Signed Jarrett Allen to a three-year, $90,720,000 veteran extension that begins in 2026/27.
Salary cap situation
- Operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
- Carrying approximately $159.8MM in salary for 12 players.
- Note: This figure would increase to $173.7MM if Okoro’s qualifying offer and a 14th man on a veteran’s minimum contract were added.
- No hard cap.
- Full mid-level exception ($12.8MM) available.
The offseason so far
Entering the summer, there was speculation that the Cavaliers could be one of the most active teams on the trade market this summer, potentially breaking up their star duos in both the backcourt (Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland) and frontcourt (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen).
Instead, the Cavs doubled down on their top four players, signing three of them to long-term extensions this offseason. Mitchell is now locked up for at least the next three seasons, with Garland under team control for the next four, Allen for the next five, and Mobley for the next six.
That doesn’t mean Cleveland can’t pivot down the road if the team ultimately decides that the skill sets of Mitchell and Garland or Mobley and Allen overlap too much — all four players should continue to have positive trade value on their current contracts. But for now, the front office is betting this roster still has another level to reach with continued growth from that quartet and the influence of a new head coach.
Despite getting the Cavs their first playoff series win since LeBron James was on the roster, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was dismissed following the club’s second-round loss to Boston. Reporting in the wake of his ouster suggested that he and multiple Cavs players – including Mitchell – weren’t necessarily on the same page, so perhaps moving on from Bickerstaff was a necessary step to secure the All-Star guard’s commitment beyond the 2024/25 season.
Mitchell’s influence could be felt in the Cavs’ subsequent coaching search — the All-Star guard reportedly endorsed eventual hire Kenny Atkinson for the job. The team also brought in former Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant, who was close with Mitchell in Utah, to be Atkinson’s associate head coach.
Outside of the coaching change and extensions for Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen, it has been an awfully quiet summer so far for the Cavaliers, who are the only team in the NBA not to have signed any free agents to standard contracts or acquired any players via trade. The lone newcomer to date is first-round pick Jaylon Tyson, a 6’6″ wing coming off a breakout year for Cal who will be looking to crack Cleveland’s rotation in his rookie season.
Up next
With just 12 players on standard contracts, including 10 on fully guaranteed deals, there’s still work to be done in Cleveland. Even if Sam Merrill and Craig Porter – whose salaries aren’t yet guaranteed – make the regular season roster as expected, the Cavs will need to add two players to that group before opening night.
One of those two could be Isaac Okoro, the league’s last remaining restricted free agent. The two sides appear to have stalled in negotiations, with the Cavs said to prefer a multiyear deal in the neighborhood of $8-10MM per year, while the former lottery pick is presumably seeking something in at least the mid-level range ($12-14MM annually).
Cleveland has reportedly discussed possible sign-and-trade scenarios involving Okoro, including one concept involving Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith. But all indications are that none of those talks have gained serious momentum, so a return to the Cavs still looks like the most likely outcome for Okoro, whether he accepts his one-year, $11.8MM qualifying offer or reaches an agreement on a longer-term contract.
If Okoro re-signs – or if the club acquires just a single player in a sign-and-trade deal for him – the expectation is that the Cavs will finalize their roster by signing a “cost-effective, playable, end-of-bench veteran” to be their 14th man, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who suggested that player would ideally be a locker-room leader like Tristan Thompson was last season. Marcus Morris, who finished the 2023/24 campaign in Cleveland, is one possibility.
Unless the Cavaliers let Okoro walk, bring him back on a very team-friendly deal, or trade him for a player with a modest cap hit, their team salary will almost certainly surpass the luxury tax line – or be right up against that line – once they have 14 players under contract, so the belief is that they’ll keep their 15th roster spot open at the start of the regular season to maintain roster flexibility and save some money.
The Cavs will have one more two-way slot to fill once they officially complete their reported agreement with JT Thor. Isaiah Mobley and Pete Nance, each of whom finished last season on two-way deals in Cleveland, are options. The club could also look outside of the organization for that last spot, as it did with Thor. Draft-and-stash prospect Luke Travers is also in the mix for that spot, though his next steps after leaving Melbourne United remain up in the air.
Cleveland entered the season with four veterans slated to be extension-eligible this offseason. With three of those four already signed to new contracts, forward Dean Wade – who will become eligible next month – is the last possible extension candidate to watch. I think the Cavs like Wade and would extend him if the price is right, but he’s coming off a couple injury-plagued seasons, so unless they’re getting him at a discount, the front office may prefer to wait on a new deal.
EON is going to miss Damian Jones. His favorite player. Goodbye championship
He must hate that signing…
Lmao
A upgrade at SF is needed. They also should look for three veterans.
Sign and trade Okoro, Ty Jerome and Levert or Wade for a upgrade at SF. Ingram maybe or someone else but those guys can go
Sign Merrill and Porter to standard deals, sign a backup C, sign Thompson again, Mobley and Nance to 2way deals again, sign Bates to a standard contract, sign a veteran guard and forward for the locker room, a young PG prospect and young C prospect on two way or exhibit contract and thats it.
Easy
Okoro, LeVert and Strus for Ingram.
Pelicans would say no
It will need a third team
Rockets really need a star
Sheppard, Jeff Green and Filler for Ingram (via 3rd team)
Rockets would say no.
Why?
Rockets would have 4 free agents next summer
VanVleet
Jalen Green
Sengun
Ingram
$160 million new contracts per season starting next summer
Or just trade Ty Jerome for a backup C. Promote Bates, sign Mobley and Nance to 2way deals, look at a young PG prospect and C prospect, sign Tristan Thompson, Isiah Thomas and Danny Green for veteran bench locker room help
Sign Merrill and Porter to standard deals* Leave Bates on two way* Start and commit minutes to Okoro*
Third two-way is more likely to be Australian Luke Travers. A little research would have discovered what every serious fan in Cleveland knows.
Well aware of Travers! We’ve written about him a few times this month. Just slipped my mind — I’ve added a note mentioning him.
Still not a contender. Knicks, sixers improved. Once healthy the heat are better and pacers are better also.
celtics
knicks
sixers
bucks
pacers
heat
cavs
magic
raps
hawks
I have Philly out of the top 4, factoring in Paul George getting injured or even Embiid for that matter.
1. Celtics
2. Knicks
3. Cavs
4. Pacers
5. 76ers
6. Bucks
7. Hawks
8. Magic
Cavs may not contend for title but very solid team who with a bit of luck in playoffs could easily get to conference finals.
You are right in Regular Season. 76ers have a terrible bench.
In Playoffs, 76ers are top 4 in East
They should offer Tyus Jones a big cash in early July.
Paycut for George, something like $180 million contract
Think in this way 60+60+30+30
First two years $120 million
Mobley is the one who has to take a big step up.
Don’t get whats up with Okoro. He’s behind at this stage.
Cavs are underrated imo. Mobley, Allen have to have big yrs. Makes Mitchell that much more dangerous. LaVert also has to step up.
Biggest issue for the Cavs is that Garland has no fit on this team. He and Mitchell don’t play well together. They’re friends, they like each other, but their styles don’t mix.
I’m not worried about Mobley. He’s improved every year and with a coach determined to use him, he’ll take that jump, no question. Garland is the one who needs to get himself right. That jaw injury and the weight loss from it messed him up a lot, physically, but he wasn’t making great decisions as a playmaker either after returning. He can work things out, and is a great fit with the rest of the roster, but he hasn’t yet.
Okoro’s a victim of Dan Gilbert’s typical penny-pinching, but also of the RFA situation with the new cap rules. Teams don’t want to make offers to RFA anymore and are focused on retaining their own guys. The Cavs don’t want him to take the 11 million QO, because that means he gets trade veto rights, but he doesn’t want to take less than the 12 million full middy because he feels he’s worth that much. Maybe with no strings attached in UFA, but as a RFA, he’s got things working against him, including the emergence of Merrill as the better catch-and-shoot option despite his improvements in that regard, the drafting of Jaylon Tyson, who looks like a better pure 3 on paper, and Max Strus taking the starting 3 and LeVert taking the Sixth Man role. The Cavs already have a ton of guards, so he has to fit at the 3 where he’s slightly undersized and not necessarily as impactful defensively.
This is what happens when you have a 6’1 shooting guard and no veterans on the team. Garland is fine.
Clearly didn’t watch any Cavs games outside of the playoffs if that’s what you think.
Mitchell is 6’3″. Undersized, yes, but not tremendously. And he’s a decent defender for the position. Not good, but above the standard.
CLE, at a high level, is stuck waiting on Mobley to define himself on the offensive end. Taking longer than I anticipated, and maybe the new coaching staff can accelerate things a bit. Because of that, I’d give the FO a decent grade for this offseason. Makes sense to run it back for one more season. But, IMO, just one more.