Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Five Teams Who May Pursue Cost-Cutting Trades

September 7th, 2024 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Most of the 29 trades completed so far this offseason by NBA teams have been made with financial considerations in mind. In some cases, those considerations were obvious -- when the Timberwolves sent Wendell Moore to Detroit, the Nuggets dealt Reggie Jackson to Charlotte, or the Grizzlies traded Ziaire Williams to Brooklyn, saving money was the primary motivating factor.

For other trades, cap savings were just one part of the equation. For example, Portland's July deal with the Wizards was primarily about acquiring Deni Avdija, but by including Malcolm Brogdon in their package for Avdija, the Trail Blazers were able to duck out of luxury tax territory. The same is true of the Hawks in the Dejounte Murray trade, which reduced their team salary for 2024/25 and helped them sneak below the tax line.

While some teams have already made their cost-cutting moves for '24/25, there are others who are worth keeping an eye on this fall and winter. Based on their proximity to the luxury tax line or the tax aprons, they look like potential candidates to pursue deals that would shed some salary.

Let's take a closer look at some of those teams...

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Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson Agree To One-Year Deal

September 6th, 2024 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent center Tristan Thompson has reached an agreement on a one-year deal to return to the Cavaliers, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

The fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, Thompson spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Cavaliers before bouncing around the league and spending time with the Celtics, Kings, Pacers, Bulls, and Lakers from 2020-23. He returned to Cleveland last season, signing a one-year contract with the club almost exactly a year ago and appearing in 49 games in 2023/24.

Once a fixture in the Cavs’ starting lineup and one of the NBA’s top rebounders, Thompson played a limited role last season, contributing 3.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in just 11.2 minutes per contest during the regular season.

The 33-year-old, who was suspended for 25 games from January to March for an SPED (steroids and performance enhancing drugs) violation, averaged 8.7 MPG in 10 postseason appearances off the bench.

Although Thompson is no longer a major contributor on the court, the Cavaliers value his leadership, Wojnarowski notes.

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com suggested last month that the team remained on the lookout for a “cost-effective, playable, end-of-bench veteran” who could be a locker room leader like Thompson was last season. It now appears the Cavs may simply have Thompson fill that role again, though it’s unclear whether his new contract will be fully guaranteed. It at least seems safe to assume that it’s minimum-salary deal.

Prior to officially signing Thompson, Cleveland is carrying 12 players on standard contracts, with Isaac Okoro still a restricted free agent.

Cavaliers Officially Announce 2024/25 Coaching Staff

September 6th, 2024 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers issued a press release on Thursday formally announcing their coaching staff under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who was hired in June to replace J.B. Bickerstaff.

There are no real surprises within the Cavaliers’ release, as the majority of their hires were reported at some point this summer following the addition of Atkinson. However, those hires are now official.

Here are Cleveland’s assistant coaches:

Johnnie Bryant, who spent the past four seasons as the Knicks’ associate head coach and six seasons before that as a Jazz assistant. He worked closely with Donovan Mitchell in Utah and has been named the Cavaliers’ associate head coach.
Jordan Ott, a former assistant for the Lakers (2022-24) and Nets (2016-22). He worked under Atkinson in Brooklyn for three-and-a-half seasons.
DeMarre Carroll, a forward in the NBA for 11 seasons, including two in Brooklyn playing for Atkinson. Having transitioned to coaching following his retirement, he spent the 2022/23 season with Milwaukee and the ’23/24 campaign with the Lakers.
Mike Gerrity, who has coached the Cleveland Charge (the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate) for the past two seasons.
Trevor Hendry, who was with the Nets from 2014-24 in a variety of roles, including assistant coach (2022-24) and head video coordinator (2018-22). He worked under Atkinson from 2016-20.
Omar Cook, a longtime professional player who was hired as an assistant coach for the Charge in 2022 and promoted to an assistant/player development role with the Cavaliers in 2023.
Bryan Tibaldi, who has been a player development/video assistant for the Cavs since 2021.
Nate Reinking, a returning assistant coach who was the Charge’s head coach from 2016-21.

The Cavaliers announced a few more hires within their press release, including Alex Sarama as their director of player development and Patrick Licursi as an advance scout.

Cavaliers Stretched Rubio’s 2024/25 Cap Hit

September 3rd, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers used the stretch provision to spread Ricky Rubio‘s $1,274,015 dead-money cap hit for 2024/25 across three seasons, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Rubio will now count against Cleveland’s books for $424,672 annually through ’26/27.

Rubio was bought out by the Cavaliers last January with two years left on his contract, announcing at that time that his NBA career was over. He gave up $5.4MM in that agreement, leaving Cleveland with cap charges of $3,722,327 for 2023/24 and $1,274,015 for ’24/25.

The Cavaliers didn’t use the stretch provision on Rubio’s post-termination salary at the time of his release, but as Marks explains, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement allowed them to stretch the second-year salary across three seasons as long as they did so prior to the Saturday (August 31) deadline. Under the previous CBA, using the stretch provision was only permitted at the time of the waiver request.

The move generates an extra $849,343 in cap flexibility for Cleveland this season. That may not seem like much, but it gives the club a little extra breathing room below the luxury tax line as the front office negotiates a deal with Isaac Okoro. If the goal is to re-sign Okoro to a multiyear contract, sign a 14th man to a minimum-salary deal, and remain out of tax territory, that extra $849K could come in handy.

The Cavaliers are now approximately $10.6MM below the luxury tax line, meaning they could offer Okoro a first-year salary of roughly $8.5MM and avoid becoming a taxpayer. That would allow them to go up to about $27.5MM for three years or $38.1MM over four years for the last unsigned restricted free agent on the market.

Even if they end up going slightly into tax territory to fill out the opening night roster, reducing Rubio’s 2024/25 cap hit will make it easier for the Cavs to duck the tax with a trade later in the season.

G League Notes: Simpson, Boeheim, McGowens, More

September 2nd, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Hornets‘, Pistons‘, Spurs‘ and Thunder‘s G League affiliates completed a four-team trade, according to a release (Twitter link) and the G League transactions log.

In the trade, the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets) obtained the returning player rights to both Zavier Simpson and Caleb McConnell. The Motor City Cruise (Pistons) acquired RaiQuan Gray‘s rights, along with OKC’s 2025 second-round pick. The Austin Spurs got the rights to Nathan Mensah while the Oklahoma City Blue obtained Buddy Boeheim‘s.

Acquiring a player’s returning G League rights doesn’t necessarily mean that player will suit up for his new team. These trades ensure that if a player signs an NBAGL contract, he will play for the club that acquired his rights. When deals occur at this point in the offseason, they’re often precursors to players signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the parent club, lining them up to receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they’re waived and then spent at least 60 days in the G League.

This deal appears to be for exactly those purposes, at least in part. Mensah and Boeheim reportedly agreed to training camp deals with the Spurs and Thunder, respectively, so these trades indicate those agreements will be completed soon. Mensah played in 25 games for the Hornets last season, averaging 1.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest. Boeheim played two seasons with the Pistons, appearing in 20 games and averaging 2.5 PPG.

The other names in the trade are interesting. Simpson played in Summer League with the Hornets but previous reporting from HoopsHype indicated he was set to head overseas this season. He may very well still be doing that, but Charlotte clearly likes him. Gray, meanwhile, was traded while on a two-way contract to the Bulls before being waived.

Simpson has 11 games of NBA experience, averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 assists. McConnell, a former Rutgers player, also played for Charlotte in Summer League. While he hasn’t yet appeared in an NBA game, he suited up for 47 G League contests and averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last season. Gray played parts of two seasons with the Nets and then Spurs, averaging 9.8 points in his four games.

We have more from the G League:

The Cruise and Spurs participated in another multi-team trade, with Motor City acquiring the rights to Javante McCoy and Reggie Kissoonlal along with unspecified draft capital, according to the log and a team release (Twitter link). Austin obtained the rights to Isaiah Miller and Jaylen Johnson, while the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz) got a 2025 first round pick and Jayce Johnson. None of those players have yet agreed to sign Exhibit 10 deals, but as teams start fielding their training camp rosters, they’ll be names to monitor. All players involved have previously participated in training camps with NBA teams.
The Long Island Nets and Cleveland Charge completed their own trade, with the rights to Trey McGowens heading to Cleveland in exchange for Tray Maddox‘s rights (Twitter link). McGowens signed an Exhibit 10 with Brooklyn last season and averaged 10.1 points in 16 G League games last season. Maddox, a Western Michigan product who went undrafted in 2023, averaged 6.1 PPG last season for the Charge.
In case you missed it, Lonnie Walker IV signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics and may end up playing for their G League affiliate this season, at least to begin the year.

Training Camp To Be Held In Florida

September 1st, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers will hold their first week of training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., according to a team press release. Cleveland will become the first NBA team to hold training camp at IMG Academy. It will also be the Cavaliers’ first remote training camp since preparing for the 2004/05 season at Capital University in Columbus, OH.

Community Shootaround: Who Can Take Down Boston In The East?

September 1st, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics seem well-positioned to repeat as NBA champions in 2024/25.

After posting a league-best 64-18 regular season record, Boston blitzed the competition in the playoffs, going 16-3 en route to the franchise’s record 18th championship.

The reigning champs have retained all of their top rotation pieces, extending Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser this summer. In fact, 12 of Boston’s top 13 players from its 2023/24 vintage are back on this year’s roster. The only exception? Free agent forward Oshae Brissett has yet to sign anywhere, but has alluded to a possible Celtics return.

With a focus on vanquishing Boston, several other Eastern Conference contenders retooled significantly during the offseason.

The Sixers are of course the headliners of the offseason, having almost completely reconfigured their roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Although Paul George was the big addition on a four-year, $211.6MM deal, Philadelphia president Daryl Morey also made some savvy role player signings, including forward Caleb Martin. But both Embiid and George have had some uniquely underwhelming postseason performances in recent years, and both are on the wrong side of 30 with growing injury histories. Can they keep it together in the playoffs when it matters most?

Last year’s No. 2 seed, the Knicks, saw their playoff run hampered by escalating injuries to much of their rotation. Although New York lost starting center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder in free agency, the team made its own splash with a blockbuster trade for former All-Defensive swingman Mikal Bridges, acquiring him from the Nets.

Despite frequent trade rumors, the biggest offseason change for Cavaliers happened on their bench. Cleveland president Koby Altman jettisoned now-former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after two consecutive playoff seasons as a top-four seed, replacing him with former Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson. The team is hoping for internal development from its four stars and more cohesion out of its other pieces.

As the No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs, the Bucks may have been upset by an Eastern Conference Finals-bound Pacers squad in the first round. But Milwaukee has a key asset Indiana does not: All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, still very much in his prime. After trading to acquire All-Star point guard Damian Lillard late in the 2023 offseason, Milwaukee struggled to build out its depth around a pricey top six and underwent a mid-season coaching change. This year, however, the Bucks added several ring-chasing veterans on below-market deals. Will it be enough to get them deep into the playoffs again?

Indiana, to its credit, played the hand it was dealt, riding some injury luck to its first East Finals appearance in a decade. After an underwhelming Olympics run, wherein he did not play in Team USA’s gold medal game, could All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton be due for a leap? Could newly re-signed forward Pascal Siakam develop more chemistry with the team’s longer-tenured stars after his first full offseason in Indiana?

We want to know what you think. Can anyone among the aforementioned crop best Boston and emerge out of the East? Will a spoiler with present talent and the assets to make a trade — perhaps the Magic or Heat — make a surprise run? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

And-Ones: Rookie Scale Extensions, $500MM Players, Beverley, Muhammad, T. Robinson

August 31st, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Three of the first four players selected in the 2021 draft have already received rookie scale extensions, but Rockets guard Jalen Green may have to wait until next summer, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Despite a strong finish to last season, there are still questions about Green after three years in the NBA. Houston may want to maximize its cap space for 2025, and Pincus suggests the Rockets’ final offer to Green may not be in the neighborhood of what fellow top four picks Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes received.

That philosophy would also affect Alperen Sengun, who was taken with the 16th pick in 2021. Pincus suggests that Sengun could receive a generous offer before the October 21 deadline if the Rockets are planning to pick up Fred VanVleet‘s $44.9MM option for the 2025/26 season. However, the Turkish center will only have a $16.3MM cap hold if the team plans to decline its option on VanVleet and operate using cap space.

Pincus’ comments are part of his analysis of the entire first round from 2021 and the likelihood of an extension for each remaining player. He gives a C-minus to Cunningham’s new deal, stating that the Pistons assumed unnecessary risk when they could have signed him to a similar contract next summer. The Cavaliers‘ Mobley extension gets a B-minus from Pincus, while the Raptors‘ Barnes extension rates a B-plus.

There’s more news from around the basketball world:

Stephen Curry‘s extension with the Warriors and Paul George‘s max contract with the Sixers will push them above $500MM in career earnings, joining LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only players with deals in place to reach that figure, notes Steve Henson of The Los Angeles Times. James Harden will top $400MM under his new two-year, $70MM deal with the Clippers, while Chris Paul will get close to that number after joining the Spurs for one year at $10.46MM.
Longtime NBA guard Patrick Beverley made his debut for Hapoel Tel Aviv today in Israel, according to Eurohoops. Beverley, 36, was in the starting lineup and contributed three points, six assists and his typical intense defense in a preseason win over Elitzur Ironi Netanya.
Former NBA players Shabazz Muhammad and Thomas Robinson have signed with Homenetmen Beirut, per Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Muhammad, who joined the Kings’ G League affiliate in January, last played in the NBA during the 2017/18 season. Robinson, a lottery pick in 2012, has been out of the league for seven years.

Cavaliers Sign Luke Travers To Two-Way Deal

August 28th, 2024 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

4:30pm: The signing is official, according to the Cavaliers.

3:39pm: Draft-and-stash prospect Luke Travers has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Cavaliers, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Travers, who will turn 23 next Tuesday, was the 56th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Rather than signing an NBA contract at that time, however, he continued to play professionally in his home country of Australia, suiting up for the Perth Wildcats in 2022/23 and Melbourne United in ’23/24.

A 6’7″ wing, Travers enjoyed a strong season in Melbourne this past year, averaging 12.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 26.3 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .516/.327/.671, across 25 appearances. He has also suited up for Cleveland’s Summer League team in each of the past three offseasons, averaging 7.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.4 BPG in 15 outings (24.7 MPG) in Las Vegas.

Word broke earlier this month that Travers had left Melbourne United to pursue NBA opportunities, and while a two-way deal with Cleveland always appeared to be the most likely outcome, that wasn’t considered a certainty until now. The Cavs could’ve traded his NBA rights to another team or used a 15-man roster spot to sign him.

Instead, Travers will begin his NBA career in Cleveland on a two-way contract that will pay him $578,577, half of the rookie minimum. He’s eligible to appear in a maximum of 50 NBA games while on that deal, though if the Cavs hold an open spot on their standard 15-man roster, they’ll be limited to 90 total NBA games for their three two-way players (Travers, Emoni Bates, and JT Thor). As a result, the Australian wing will likely spend plenty of time in the G League with the Cleveland Charge.

Once their reported deals with Travers and Thor are official, the Cavs will have 15 players under contract — 12 on standard deals and three on two-ways, with Isaac Okoro still a restricted free agent.

NBA Teams With Fewest Players On Guaranteed Contracts

August 28th, 2024 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

As of Wednesday, eight of the NBA’s 30 teams are carrying at least 15 players on guaranteed contracts and are unlikely to have many additional offseason acquisitions in store. Another 17 teams are carrying either 13 or 14 players on guaranteed deals.

As our roster counts page shows, that leaves five clubs carrying 12 or fewer players on fully guaranteed deals. That doesn’t necessarily mean all five of those teams will sign free agents to guaranteed contracts before the regular season begins, but it’s worth checking in on them to take a closer look at their roster situations.

Cleveland Cavaliers

No NBA team has fewer players on fully guaranteed salaries than the Cavaliers, who are carrying just 10 of them. However, we can probably pencil in two more players for their standard regular season roster — Craig Porter played rotation minutes last season and has a $1MM partial guarantee, while Sam Merrill proved to be a bargain on his non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal.

If we assume those 12 players will be on the Cavs’ opening night roster, that leaves three openings. Cleveland reportedly plans to leave one open, and one may be earmarked for restricted free agent Isaac Okoro, but even if Okoro returns, the club will still need to add one more player to its roster as a 14th man. It will be interesting to see if the Cavs target a specific free agent and offer him a guaranteed contract or if they’ll bring multiple non-guaranteed players to camp to compete for that 14th spot.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries, with Lindy Waters and Gui Santos also in the mix on non-guaranteed salaries. Golden State doesn’t currently have the flexibility to sign a veteran free agent as a 15th man due to the team’s close proximity to its hard cap of $178.1MM, but either Waters or Santos could be waived to make room for a replacement.

The Warriors gave up a second-round pick in June to acquire Waters, so I doubt the plan is to waive him. Santos’ future is less certain. He barely played in the NBA last season as a rookie, and his G League numbers (including a .437 FG% and 3.1 turnovers per game) weren’t exceptional. If the Dubs want to bring in another player to fill out their regular season roster (they’re reportedly working out Bruno Caboclo this week), Santos looks like the best bet to be the odd man out.

Indiana Pacers

Although the Pacers have just 12 players on fully guaranteed contracts, they have at least four players in the mix for the final three spots on their roster, including two with partial guarantees (James Johnson and James Wiseman) and two on non-guaranteed deals (Kendall Brown and Cole Swider).

I expect Johnson and Wiseman to have the upper hand for spots on the 15-man roster, with Brown and Swider potentially fighting for the 15th spot — assuming Indiana even carries a full 15-man squad to open the regular season.

For what it’s worth, the Pacers have shown a willingness in the past to move Johnson on and off their roster. Last season, he signed four separate contracts with the club, including two 10-day deals. But the fact that Indiana gave him a $750K guarantee on his newest contract is an indication the team doesn’t plan on cutting the veteran forward before opening night.

Philadelphia 76ers

While the Sixers technically only have 12 players on guaranteed salaries for the time being, that number will increase to 13 once Guerschon Yabusele officially signs with the team. He’s likely still working out the logistics of the move, including his buyout with Real Madrid and clearance from FIBA.

Once Yabusele has signed, Philadelphia will have 13 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Ricky Council on a non-guaranteed deal. I can’t imagine Council is going anywhere after his promising rookie season, so the only question for the Sixers will be whether or not they want to carry a 15th man to open the year. They’re well into tax territory already, so they may hold that spot open unless there’s a specific player they like and don’t want to get away.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings currently have 14 players on standard contracts — 12 on guaranteed deals, plus Orlando Robinson with a partial guarantee ($500K) and Keon Ellis on a non-guaranteed salary.

Ellis was a rotation player for much of last season and should be a lock for the regular season roster. On the surface, Robinson may not look like a sure thing, but the Kings’ cap situation works in his favor. The club is currently only below the tax line by about $1MM, so eating Robinson’s $500K partial guarantee in order to replace him with a newcomer before the season starts wouldn’t be the most financially prudent move.

I’d expect the Kings to keep their 15th roster spot open to start the season. If they carry someone in that spot, it might be another player on a non-guaranteed deal for the sake of flexibility.