- Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill hasn’t played much this season, averaging just 8.4 MPG in his 13 appearances prior to Monday’s game. But he was instrumental in the Cavs’ overtime victory over Houston on Monday night, scoring a career-high 19 points while also chipping in four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 24 minutes, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Merrill, whose contract is non-guaranteed, converted 5-of-10 from behind the arc in an expanded role with Darius Garland and Evan Mobley out for the next several weeks.
- In a subscriber-only story for Cleveland.com, a source tells Fedor that Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome‘s recovery from a high ankle sprain has reached a “plateau,” and his progress (or lack thereof) has “confounded” the team’s medical staff. Jerome, who signed a two-year deal with the Cavs as a free agent over the summer, remains in a walking boot and is out indefinitely, Fedor writes.
12:40pm: Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com confirms that the Cavaliers and Rubio are discussing options, but says they’re not close to reaching a resolution at this time. A trade would be Cleveland’s preferred path, Fedor adds.
12:15pm: The Cavaliers and Ricky Rubio have begun to discuss the possibility of a parting of ways, sources tell Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Rubio hasn’t been with the Cavs at all this season after announcing in August that he was pausing his playing career for mental health reasons. The veteran point guard, who remains in Spain, isn’t expected to play this season and there are “serious doubts” about whether he’ll ever resume his career, according to Charania and Vardon, who hear that the 33-year-old isn’t believed to be engaging in basketball activities to stay sharp.
The Cavs, meanwhile, are dealing with long-term injuries to Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Ty Jerome, and are carrying an open roster spot for luxury tax reasons — they’re only $752K below the tax line, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Freeing up some money and a roster spot would put the team in a better position to address its roster depth, particularly in the backcourt.
Rubio’s cap hit for this season is approximately $6.15MM. He’s on the books for $6.44MM next season, though only $4.25MM of that 2024/25 salary is guaranteed.
As Charania and Vardon detail, a buyout, a waive-and-stretch, and a trade are some of the potential routes the Cavaliers figure to consider. A waive-and-stretch transaction is presumably the least attractive of those options, since the deadline to stretch this season’s salary has passed — Rubio’s $6.15MM cap charge for ’23/24 would remain unchanged, meaning Cleveland wouldn’t create any additional financial flexibility below the tax line.
Negotiating a buyout with Rubio would allow the Cavaliers to reduce his cap hit for this season, but Charania and Vardon note that the team wants to “do right” by the veteran, who is considered a major part of the team’s resurgence in recent years. That suggests the front office may be reluctant to ask him to give up a significant chunk of money.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported earlier today that a trade involving Rubio was a possibility, and it might be the most appealing option if the Cavs can find the right sort of deal. If Cleveland were to attach a draft asset to Rubio and move him in a trade for a player who’s earning less than him, it could clear a path for the club to fill the 15th spot on its roster without surpassing the tax threshold. In that scenario, Rubio’s new team would then be responsible for either negotiating a buyout or simply waiving him.
The injuries that will sideline Darius Garland and Evan Mobley well into the new year aren’t expected to significantly impact the Cavaliers‘ plans for this season, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who says the franchise remains committed to its core of Garland, Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen.
As Fischer writes, there has been “incessant chatter” among rival executives about the possibility of Mitchell leaving Cleveland in 2025, when he can opt out of his current contract, with speculation about his next destination focusing on the New York teams (the Knicks and Nets). However, those whispers haven’t affected the Cavaliers’ resolve to this point, Fischer explains.
In the event that the Cavs begin to struggle and slide down the standings without Garland and Mobley available, it’s possible the front office will have to reconsider its approach to the trade deadline. But Koby Altman and his group seem to have the “sturdy backing” of ownership, per Fischer, so the odds appear slim that a substantial change in direction will occur in the coming weeks.
Here’s more from Fischer on the Cavaliers:
- One move Cleveland might make on or before the February 8 deadline would involve Ricky Rubio, according to Fischer, who suggests the team would like to turn Rubio’s salary slot into a player who could contribute this season. The veteran point guard announced in August that he’d be pausing his career to focus on his mental health, and there has been no indication that the “pause” will end anytime soon, so he’d be a buyout candidate if he’s traded to a new team, Fischer adds.
- While the Cavs have no plans to trade him, Allen would receive “plenty” of interest from playoff contenders if he were ever made available. League sources tell Fischer that the Pelicans are one team that has long had its eye on Allen and would be interested if Cleveland is willing to listen to offers down the road.
- There was some noise early in the season about whether J.B. Bickerstaff‘s hold on his head coaching job might be slipping, but Fischer hears from sources that the Cavs don’t seem to be in any rush to make a change on the sidelines. Injuries to Garland and Mobley may actually reduce the pressure on Bickerstaff, Fischer points out, since expectations for the club will be tempered without those two young stars in the lineup.
There’s no indication that the Cavaliers are considering trading Donovan Mitchell, and the star guard shut down that topic of conversation following injuries to teammates Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. However, in an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton argues that it’s something the team should think about, given that Cleveland doesn’t appear to be a legitimate title contender in the short term and Mitchell can become a free agent in 2025.
As Pelton writes, if the Cavaliers aren’t confident in their ability to extend Mitchell beyond his current deal, they could maximize his value on the trade market by moving him sooner rather than later, potentially getting back pieces that could complement Garland and Mobley as they enter their respective primes.
It seems unlikely that the Cavs will heed Pelton’s advice and make Mitchell available in advance of this season’s trade deadline. But if the four-time All-Star eventually ends up on the trade block, the Knicks, Nets, Heat, and “at least two other” Southwest teams would be among the potential suitors to watch, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to NetsDaily).
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- Ever since Damian Lillard requested a trade out of Portland, forward Jerami Grant has been viewed as a logical trade candidate, given that he seems to be on a different timeline than the rebuilding Trail Blazers. However, Danny Marang of 1080 The Fan in Portland (Twitter link) says he continues to hear the team has “zero interest” in moving Grant and is happy with the role he’s playing on the current roster.
- Teams around the NBA are keeping an eye on the Hawks to see if they’ll become a trade deadline seller, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story. Atlanta was at the center of several offseason trade rumors – many of which involved Clint Capela and/or De’Andre Hunter – but didn’t end up doing anything too significant and is off to an underwhelming (11-15) start this fall.
- Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (video link) confirms that Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson is considered available via trade, as previous reports have suggested. Clarkson likes playing in Utah and isn’t seeking an exit, Haynes notes, but multiple contenders have inquired about him.
Donovan Mitchell didn’t want to discuss his future on Saturday after leading the Cavaliers to a win in their first game since long-term injuries knocked Darius Garland and Evan Mobley out of the lineup, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. There is already speculation that Mitchell, who has a $37MM player option for 2025/26, will end up somewhere else if he turns down an extension offer from Cleveland. Rumors escalated on Friday when the Cavs announced the prognosis for Garland and Mobley, but it’s not a topic Mitchell feels like addressing.
“My job is to focus on this,” he said, referring to on-court matters. “We have two guys that are out, so I’m not answering anything. And no disrespect. I appreciate that you have to ask the question, but I’m not going there with any of those questions. My focus is on these guys being out, us trying to find a way to get wins.”
Mitchell posted a career-high 13 assists as he took over full-time point guard duties in Garland’s absence. According to Vardon, coach J.B. Bickerstaff talked to Mitchell before the game about the need to get role players involved in the offense as they handle more responsibility with Garland and Mobley sidelined. Bickerstaff is also seeking greater production from center Jarrett Allen, who finished Saturday’s game with 25 points and 14 rebounds.
“J.B. said before the game, it’s not our job to go out there and try to be Superman,” Allen said. “It’s not our job to go out there and try to make up for everything that’s lost. It’s just for us to try to find one area that we can improve in and try to help the team win.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Several contenders, including the Celtics, Thunder and Mavericks, have expressed an interest in Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, sources tell James L. Edwards of The Athletic. Stewart has been one of the few bright spots in Detroit’s ugly season, averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds through 25 games. He signed a four-year, $64MM extension this summer and would be subject to the poison pill provision in any trade until July 1. Edwards also addresses trade suggestions from readers, saying he’s heard the Pistons don’t have interest in adding Utah’s John Collins or Charlotte’s P.J. Washington.
- After passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the Bucks‘ career leader in rebounding Sunday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo talked about what it means to eclipse an NBA legend, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “That a kid from Greece, a skinny kid from Greece that was drafted, supposed to play in the G League, be in a position to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record, I don’t think anybody thought about that,” Antetokounmpo said.
- MarJon Beauchamp and Andre Jackson are both contributing to a Bucks team that needs production from its young wings, Nehm adds in a full story.
Less than an hour after it was reported on Friday that Darius Garland is expected to miss at least a month due to a fractured jaw, word broke that Evan Mobley would undergo knee surgery, which will sideline him for roughly six-to-eight weeks.
It was a crushing one-two blow for the Cavaliers, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) writes. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that the team “felt like s–t,” while Dean Wade said it “sucks” to see two key starters go down with injuries. However, the club is determined to remain competitive without Garland and Mobley in its lineup.
“Injury is a part of the game. But you hate to see it. Hate to see with two guys who continuously put the work in to get better and those guys have been working their butts off,” Donovan Mitchell said. “On the flip side, and I think these two will feel the same way, no one’s going to care outside of this locker room. You know what I mean? If anything, teams are going to want to try to come at us even more. I think that’s what kind of brings us together. We have to go out there and hold it down for these two. They’re our rocks. They’re part of what we built.”
“I knew that our team could do it,” Jarrett Allen said of overcoming the two injuries. “We always rely on the next guy to be ready to come in and make an impact.”
The Cavaliers got off to a good start on Saturday in their first game without Garland and Mobley, defeating the Hawks by a score of 127-119.
“I think we just came together,” Wade said. “Everyone likes each other. When things like this happen, adversity comes and hits us, I think we get closer. We still got a lot of weapons, a lot of talent in this room. Even with those guys out, we can still get the job done. What D.G. and Evan bring to the floor, we just had to do a little extra.”
Here’s more out of Cleveland:
- In deciding on a new lineup, the Cavaliers opted to slide Mitchell to point guard and Max Strus to shooting guard, with Isaac Okoro and Wade entering the starting five at small forward and power forward, respectively. As Fedor explains, undrafted rookie Craig Porter Jr. isn’t considered quite ready for a starting job and the Cavs seem committed to keeping Caris LeVert in a sixth man role.
- When Joe Vardon of The Athletic tried to ask Mitchell on Saturday about his contract situation and his long-term future in Cleveland in light of the Garland and Mobley injuries (and the Cavs’ up-and-down play this season), the star guard cut him off. “My job is to focus on this,” Mitchell said. “We have two guys that are out, so I’m not answering anything. And no disrespect. I appreciate that you have to ask the question, but I’m not going there with any of those questions. My focus is on these guys being out, us trying to find a way to get wins.”
- Mitchell thrived in his first game in place of Garland at point guard, handing out a career-high 13 assists. Mitchell also scored a career-high 71 points last season in a game Garland missed, but the former Jazz star said it’s “damn sure not easier” to play without his usual backcourt mate. “I have to pick up the slack that’s there,” Mitchell said. “When he’s not there, it’s my job to go out there and fill that void. He’s an All-Star guard. We came here and made this for us to be together. It’s definitely not an, ‘Oh, it’s me versus him.’ That’s my brother. That’s my dog. … The only way we make this push is as a group. I can’t do everything. It doesn’t happen with just one of us.”
- Keith Smith of Spotrac takes a look at some options out there for the Cavaliers if the team decides it wants to add roster reinforcements via free agency or trade. As Smith notes, adding a free agent would push Cleveland’s team salary over the luxury tax line, but if that player receives a non-guaranteed contract and is waived on or before January 7, the club could sneak back out of the tax.
After the Cavaliers‘ 51-win 2022/23 season came to a disappointing end with an unceremonious exit in the first round of the playoffs, that momentum appears to have carried over to this fall, with the team off to a 13-12 start. However, speaking to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, star guard Donovan Mitchell rejects the idea that the postseason letdown in the spring left a lasting mark on the team.
“I think we came back motivated,” he said. “We’ve got guys who came back ready to go. I think it motivated us, but, you know, it’s not showing it. That’s the tough part. But I’m not deflated. We’ve got to figure this thing out. That’s it. That’s all you can really do. Find ways. That’s it. It’s tough obviously, you know, winning a few, losing a few, but we’re not going to quit. We’re going to keep going.”
Mitchell also said that he believes the Cavaliers have the pieces to be a contender and that it’s just a matter of getting everyone on the same page. But Mitchell’s conversation with Bulpett occurred on Thursday, and the challenge facing the team got a lot tougher on Friday, when word broke that both Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will be sidelined until well into the new year due to injuries.
Earlier today, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported that the Cavaliers had shown no inclination to make Mitchell available via trade despite the “mounting interest” of rival teams. It’s unlikely that stance has changed in the past few hours, in spite of the Garland and Mobley news, but it’ll certainly be worth keeping a close eye on how the situation in Cleveland plays out in the coming weeks to see how the club responds.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is “deeply valued internally,” according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, who says the organization appreciates the veteran not just for his skills on the court but for his leadership off of it. The team has similar feelings about Alex Caruso, Johnson adds.
- A recent report indicated that the Bulls and DeRozan are far apart in extension talks and suggested that the forward is a trade candidate in the final year of his contract. For what it’s worth though, DeRozan has expressed a desire to stay where he is. “Chicago is Chicago to me,” he told Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. “I love it here. Obviously it’s a place I want to be in my career. None of that has changed. I don’t have no other type of doubts or feelings or suggestions to be elsewhere. That don’t cross my mind.”
- Following a run to the play-in tournament final, Tyrese Haliburton spoke about his hope that seeing how the Pacers play will make impact players want to join him in Indiana. With that in mind, Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star considers what sort of moves the Pacers could make by February’s deadline and what their best trade assets might be.
- James Johnson‘s new one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Pacers is non-guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Johnson will receive his full salary ($2,241,188) if he remains under contract beyond January 7.
- The chippy, hard-fought nature of Wednesday’s victory over the division-rival Pacers, which culminated in an argument over the game ball, may have helped the Bucks build a stronger bond, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic writes. “When stuff happens, whether it’s extremely serious or it’s small, any time you can get into something and you can look over and see people got your back and they’re with you, it changes things,” Damian Lillard said. “… I think (Wednesday), for our team, it was just a step in that direction where we kind of — we were with each other, so I’m not saying that’s going to make us the world’s greatest, but it was a step in the right direction.”
Today’s injury news has gone from bad to worse for the Cavaliers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), big man Evan Mobley will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is expected to be out for the next six-to-eight weeks.
The update on Mobley comes on the heels of a report stating that Cavs point guard Darius Garland will miss several weeks due to a fractured jaw.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Mobley has started all 169 games he has played for the Cavaliers since entering the league. This season, he’s averaging a double-double (16.0 points, 10.5 rebounds) to go along with 2.9 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.
However, after appearing in each of Cleveland’s first 21 games of the season, Mobley has missed the last four due to what the team had been referring to as left knee soreness. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the 22-year-old will have a loose body removed from that knee as part of his arthroscopic procedure.
As we outlined in our story on Garland’s injury, the Cavs are off to a disappointing 13-12 start this fall and don’t have a particularly deep roster, with guards Ricky Rubio (personal reasons) and Ty Jerome (ankle) having also missed most or all of the season so far.
With Mobley unavailable, forwards Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, and Dean Wade are among the candidates to see bumps in minutes, while deeper reserves like Tristan Thompson, Damian Jones, Emoni Bates, and Evan’s brother Isaiah Mobley figure to slide up the depth chart.
The Cavaliers have an open spot on their 15-man roster, but they’re less than $1MM away from the luxury tax line, so they’ll be reluctant to add much more salary to their books.
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland has sustained a fractured jaw, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Garland is expected to be sidelined for several weeks as a result of the injury.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter link), who says Garland is scheduled to undergo surgery next week, estimates that the 23-year-old will be out for about a month.
As Charania notes, the injury occurred when Garland collided with Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis on a drive in the third quarter of Thursday’s loss to Boston (Twitter video link). Garland left the game and headed to the locker room, though he did check back in and played the fourth quarter.
It’s an unfortunate setback for a Cavaliers team that has gotten off to an underwhelming start to the 2023/24 season. Widely projected to be a top-three team in the East, Cleveland is just 13-12 so far, good for ninth in the conference.
While Garland has averaged 20.7 points and 5.9 assists per game through his first 20 contests, he hasn’t been at his best this fall. His 34.6% three-point percentage and 3.8 turnovers per night would both be career-worst marks.
Still, the Cavs will certainly miss him during his absence, especially since the No. 2 point guard on their depth chart – Ricky Rubio – has been away from the team all season for personal reasons, while No. 3 option Ty Jerome has been out since October 27 due to an ankle injury.
Rookie two-way player Craig Porter Jr. figures to play a larger role until Garland returns, while Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert will likely take on more ball-handling responsibilities.
It’s worth noting that Cleveland does have an open spot on its 15-man standard roster, with two little-used reserves (Tristan Thompson and Sam Merrill) on non-guaranteed contracts, so the club has the flexibility to make a backcourt addition if necessary, though the Cavs’ team salary is close to the luxury tax line.
It has been difficult to sift through the noise in the rumor mill to determine which teams might actually be legitimate suitors for Zach LaVine, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who notes that while the Sixers and Lakers have frequently been mentioned as possibilities, their level of interest in the Bulls guard is unclear.
Teams like the 76ers, Knicks, and Heat haven’t seriously engaged or shown real interest in LaVine, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that the Lakers are believed to be LaVine’s preference in the event of a trade, but we don’t have a sense of whether that interest is reciprocated.
As Fischer writes – and as Cowley previously suggested – if the Bulls are going to move LaVine, they’d ideally like to do it well in advance of February’s deadline in order to give them time to evaluate their new-look roster before deciding on whether or not to trade more players, such as DeMar DeRozan or Alex Caruso.
However, LaVine’s injury history was already considered a red flag for potential suitors, and the fact that he’s currently on the shelf due to a foot issue only lends credence to that concern, Fischer notes. On top of that, the Bulls’ asking price is believed to be high, consisting of an established starter, a young player with upside, and first-round draft capital, sources tell Fischer. It remains to be seen whether any team is willing to put a package like that on the table.
According to Fischer, the Bulls have also explored the possibility of trying to move LaVine in a deal for another All-Star level player. They attempted to pitch the Cavaliers on a swap that would have sent point guard Darius Garland to Chicago, sources tell Yahoo Sports. Presumably, Cleveland didn’t have much interest in that concept.
Here are a few more rumors from around the Eastern Conference, courtesy of Fischer:
- Given that the 2024 draft class is considered relatively weak, there’s a sense that teams in search of roster upgrades might be more inclined to move their ’24 first-round picks in trades this season, but there’s not yet a long list of sellers. According to Fischer, league personnel believe the Raptors will be more inclined to join that group of sellers this winter than they have been in past years, after they saw Fred VanVleet walk in free agency over the summer. “Toronto’s going to be forced to make a decision,” one GM said to Yahoo Sports.
- Pascal Siakam is considered the more likely trade candidate than Raptors teammate OG Anunoby, but a couple of the clubs believed to have interest in Siakam – the Pacers and Kings – seem “more vested” in the idea of landing Anunoby, Fischer writes.
- Speaking of the Pacers, rival executives think they’ll be aggressive in exploring ceiling-raising trades that would consolidate some of their depth pieces, though Fischer is unconvinced the team is prepared to do anything substantial quite yet. Veteran backup point guard T.J. McConnell continues to draw interest from playoff teams seeking backcourt help, Fischer adds.
- The Sixers aren’t expected to pursue any major roster changes until much closer to February’s trade deadline, according to Fischer.