The Cavaliers still have many of the same holes on the roster going into year three with Mitchell.
The Cleveland Cavaliers went all in with the Donovan Mitchell trade. They hold a 99-65 record in the two seasons since, which includes their first playoff series victory without LeBron James in the 21st century.
Mitchell has played at an All-NBA level for the past two years and is committed to the team as evidenced by his recent contract extension. He has the chance to be remembered as one of the best Cavaliers in history if he remains on the team throughout his contract.
The trade will be considered successful even though this core might be fatally flawed due to their clunky fit together. There will always be questions about whether the Cavs could’ve made the deal with someone else instead of Lauri Markkanen. The original sin of including him in the deal might be too much to overcome.
On top of that, they’ll continue to feel the long-term cost of going all in for the remainder of the decade. They don’t have the resources to make drastic moves to the roster. Even using the mid-level exception has been deemed a bridge too far this offseason given their lack of financial flexibility.
The moves they’ve made in the interim show this. The minor tweaks around the margins have been successful, but the few swings they’ve had to majorly upgrade their bench and depth haven’t been. This has resulted in the Cavs having a roster with the same issues for the third season in a row.
Here’s a rundown of the moves since the Mitchell trade.
Re-signing Wade for three years, $18.5 million is the first and best move the Cavs made since the Mitchell trade. Wade, when on the court, has been extremely useful to the team. The Cavs were 2.4 points better per 100 possessions with him on the court in 2022-23 and 6.7 points better last season. The issue has been Wade’s lack of availability.
The version of Love we saw in 2021-22 hasn’t returned. He’s only converted 33% of his outside looks since being let go by the Cavs. Still, his veteran presence would’ve been incredibly useful for a team that has no front-court consistency outside Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Wade (when he’s healthy).
Love understands who he is as a player and does an excellent job of leveraging his diminishing skills. Love knows how to use his gravity as a three-point shooter to create open looks for his teammates. That combined with his excellent rebounding and tertiary playmaking would’ve allowed Love to continue to be a useful role player had he been able to stay in Cleveland.
This version of Green wasn’t going to drastically help the Cavs in the playoffs. That said, it would’ve been nice if he was at least put into a position to be his best self by getting important reps with rotation players at the end of the season instead of just throwing him into the deep end during the playoffs.
The Cavs hit on another low-risk move by signing Sam Merrill to a three-year deal that included two unguaranteed seasons. Merrill has provided quality depth minutes and should be a good fit in Kenny Atkinson’s offense.
The jury is still out on whether Bates can be a rotation player. We likely won’t get the answer to that question for a few more seasons. His shot is NBA-ready, but the rest of his game isn’t. This was a low-risk move that has the potential for high upside depending on how next season pans out.
Getting rotation minutes from an undrafted rookie is a win regardless of the context. There are concerns about whether Porter can round out his game to become a long-term backup point guard. This move is still a useful one given the cost even if he can’t take the next evolution as a player.
Strus has been a positive addition. He’s proven to be a complete basketball player who can change the game when his outside shot is on.
Any criticism of this deal comes from the fact that the Cavs lack the flexibility to take swings like this in the near future. The Cavaliers need a little more from Strus than what he can likely provide.
The Cavs needed to hit on their mid-level exception signings for this core to work. Handing out a three-year, $25.5 million contract for someone to be the fourth-best big is a massive blunder for a team brushing up against the luxury tax. This poor signing is part of the reason the Cavs haven’t used their mid-level exception this season and also why they desperately need to find more playable depth at forward.
Jerome theoretically would’ve been a good backup point guard. That never materialized as he was hurt two games into his Cavs tenure. We’ll see what Jerome can do this upcoming season.
LeVert was likely extended with the intention of eventually trading him in mind. They can’t afford to let that salary slot go given their cap situation. Although skilled, LeVert remains an imperfect fit on this team.
It’s difficult to find a third big on a team with two elite centers. Jones was brought in to be insurance in case one of Allen or Mobley was ever injured. This wasn’t a role he could fill and was passed up on the depth chart by Thompson early in the season.
Thompson provided valuable minutes in the regular season and playoffs. He was the best center off the bench by a wide margin which speaks more to the quality of the rest of the reserves than it did to Thompson’s play.
The Cavs once again couldn’t find a deal at the deadline. Morris was able to provide passable minutes at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Like the Thompson signing, Morris’s usefulness speaks more to the Cavs’ lack of depth than it does to anything Morris was able to provide.
We’ll see how good Tyson is. Ideally, you’d like to bring a late first-round pick along slowly, but Cleveland might not have that luxury given the lack of depth they have at the wing.
Picking up a playable forward without using any of your salary cap room is shrewd business. Thor should provide some passable minutes if called upon although there’s little reason to believe he has untapped potential considering what he’s shown with the Charlotte Hornets the past few seasons.
Keeping the core together on fair-market contracts is a win. This locks a formidable group in while also giving them the freedom to pivot as early as this upcoming trade deadline if needed.
Koby Altman and the rest of the front office’s best moves since the Mitchell trade have been around the margins and keeping the core together. Signing Wade, Merrill, and Porter are unquestioned wins, but they don’t significantly raise this team’s ceiling. Extending three of the four players is also a massive win. Although, that isn’t an improvement to what Cleveland started with in September 2022.
The front office has whiffed on the moves that he couldn’t afford to. The Strus trade was solid on its own, but it’s closer to a single than it is a home run. Niang’s contract could look even worse as we get into the second and third years and the Cavs haven’t figured out how to flip LeVert for a better-fitting player.
The Mitchell trade boxed the front office in. Especially after giving away Markkanen who would’ve been the best long-term front-court fit for Mobley of any other player in the entire league. The front office had to be perfect with the few resources they had left to improve the ceiling of this core. That hasn’t happened so far.
