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| cavalaiersnation.com |
CAN THE CAVS FIX THEIR WING SITUATION?
The Cleveland Cavaliers being one of the 'surprising' teams this past season finishing at the ninth seed with a 44-38 record returning back to being respectable leaguewide. Having a star guard in Darius Garland and star big men in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, there has still has been a whole in the wing department for them. The wing is obviously a prominent position in the league. Boston has Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Miami with Jimmy Butler, Milwaukee with Kris Middleton, and so on and so forth. With the Cavs bouncing off this season if they are looking to improve it starts exactly at looking to upgrade the wing department and how.
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FREE AGENCY
The Cavs this season became more marketable and respectable than they have been in years. But even with that marketability it is still Cleveland, a very low market team. As well as on the mathematical side of things the Cavs are projected to be over the cap by $-28.3 million dollars. The Cavs are also looking to prioritize extending guards Collin Sexton and Caris LeVert. They also have Darius Garlands and Evan Mobleys extensions as priorities coming up as well. But Cleveland will still have the non tax payers mid level exception for around $10 million dollars. So with that, the first player apart of this 2022 free agency class the Cavs should show interest in is TJ Warren; a small forward with great height and size who can shoot, shot create a bit, and defend well enough. Caleb Martin (the twin that played for the Heat) this year has been a great 3&D guy for the Heat who has great length and size that the Cavs should look at. Free agents like Malik Monk is going to have high interest from several other teams and will offer more money most likely. This free agency class is not anything special, getting into guys like Kevin Knox, Cody Martin, and Juan Toscano-Anderson who of course JTA is nice but it is not necessarily what Cleveland needs.
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TRADES
As for trade assets the Cavs do have the Spurs and Heat second rounders this year which could be used to pair with a contract for something. Cleveland also has their lottery pick this year but I assume they plan on drafting a wing at that position. As far as expendable players the first comes to mind is Cedi Osman who is on a descending contract who is solid backup small forward. Would Cleveland be eager to trade Lauri after his first season with them, we don't know. Dylan Windler probably doesn’t have much value but could be an expendable player. Isaac Okoro probably wont be in any trade talks, given his age and the Cavs track record. Collin Sexton and Caris LeVert unless something changes seems to be safe. So that begs the question what value would Cedi Osman and those two seconds return? The Cavs do have some semi valuable picks that could be used. A player I instantly thought about for Cleveland is Milwaukee's Jordan Nwora, who has the potential to be a good 3 level scorer given more opportunity and with great size being 6'8 is very intriguing. But if any wing that is a shot creator is made available this offseason, especially with size, the Cavs should be interested.
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NBA DRAFT
Since the Cavs did fall out of the playoffs this year ending the year at the 9 seed, odds are highly favored the Cavs will have their lottery pick which will be around 14 that they used to trade for Caris LeVert. With that pick once again I'll reinstate the Cavs should be looking for a 3 level shot creator preferably with some size to play alongside Darius Garland who is not the biggest. Cleveland has their PG and bigs set in stone pretty much. With Sexton looking to return this year that'll be a shooting guard they can rely on to score. If they can get one forward who can score at all 3 levels with that 14th pick that would be great for them. Plenty of Cavs fans have been naming Kansas' Ochai Agbaji but I think he will be gone by the 14th pick. If not I'd assume one of Collin Sexton or Caris LeVert won't be returning next season, since Ochai is a guard and not a forward. Prospects like Malaki Branham out of Ohio State and Kendall Brown out of Baylor are guys if I am the Cavs are looking at. This draft pick for them should be very similar to Phoenix taking Cameron Johnson, at times you go for what you need right then and there. Does not have to be the most popular or sexiest name but a guy that is going to do what is needed. Baylor's Jeremy Sochan is interesting as well. Ousmane Dieng is a someone who could have very high upside but is a prospect I would not mind the Cavs taking but would probably like to see in a better situation. I could see the Cavs also shopping around the 14th pick just testing the waters looking at the return value.
Nonetheless the Cavs will be returning next season with a big 3 essentially of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. With basically Garland being the only 3 level shot creator on the team, guards like Sexton and LeVert will come in and help but we have not seen those two together yet on the floor. Neither of them are high volume three point shooters and mostly need the ball in their hands to be effective so the fit could be questionable. And with that 3 guard tandem a solid defensive specialist in Isaac Okoro will have to get in where he fits in when it comes to pt. If Cleveland acquires any shot creator this season who's an above average shooter with height, I'll consider it a good offseason for them. Rather it be via draft, trade , or free agency there is lanes in could be done.
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