Cavs Face Big Offseason Decisions, With Very Little Room To Manuever

CLEVELAND — The season ended early for the Cavaliers, and now comes the most important season of all. That would be none other than the offseason, every team’s path to trying to build a contender.Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Ty Jerome, Cavaliers, Cavs. NBA

The Athletic’s John Hollinger thoroughly described what awaits the Cavs after their disappointing second-round exit. And let’s just say things are going to be fairly tricky financially.

Hollinger opened his piece by pointing to the friendship of Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter, tying it into the Cavs’ tight cap situation.

As Hollinger noted, Jerome and Hunter have traveled a long, winding road to get back to each other.

Teammates and national champions at Virginia in 2019, the two stayed close over five unpredictable NBA seasons. Through trades, injuries and rotations, they remained tight off the court.

Then, in a twist neither could’ve predicted, they found themselves reunited in Cleveland midway through the 2024-25 season — Hunter via trade, Jerome already in place — and suddenly, the Cavaliers couldn’t lose, Hollinger explained.

With both in the lineup, Cleveland ripped off 12 straight wins. The Cavs, for a time, were 46-3 all-time when the duo shared the floor — college and pro combined. But now, following a five-game playoff exit to the Pacers, that feel-good story is facing a harsh new chapter.

Hunter, a $24 million sixth man, may be too pricey to keep around. Jerome, a free agent, could easily price himself out of Cleveland’s plans. Their on-court chemistry, their friendship, and even the Cavaliers’ 64-win season now take a backseat to the more sobering reality of the new NBA economy.

This is less about a playoff loss and more about the league’s financial machinery. The second apron of the luxury tax, introduced in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement, was meant to curb big spending. It’s done exactly that — perhaps too well.

Built originally as a check on deep-pocketed teams like the Warriors and Clippers, the second apron is now cornering nearly every elite roster. Even those built organically –through smart drafting, development and shrewd deals — now find themselves stuck between competing and complying, as Hollinger wrote.

Take the Cavs. They crafted a contender through patience, vision and a little luck. Now they’re staring down a financial cliff. With Evan Mobley earning Defensive Player of the Year — triggering a Rose Rule clause that bumps his max salary up by nearly $8 million next season — Cleveland will project to be roughly $15 million over the second apron even before addressing Jerome, Sam Merrill, or adding another rotation piece.

Mobley’s deal alone jumps to a projected $46.4 million. That’s great news for the player. For the front office, it’s a tightrope act. The Cavs are $27.3 million over the 2026 tax line with just 10 players on the books. Filling out the roster with minimum salaries still leaves them deep into the second apron — a space where teams can’t aggregate salaries in trades, can’t use cash, can’t sign-and-trade, and can’t access the taxpayer mid-level exception.

Re-signing Jerome with Early Bird rights could be done, but at a projected cost of $62.5 million in combined salary and tax. That’s a steep price for a former two-way player turned rotation asset. Similar math applies to Merrill. Both played critical roles. Both may be out the door.

Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro, too, are hard to justify, Hollinger wrote. Okoro’s $11 million cap hit stings more after another muted postseason, and Wade at $6 million might be a luxury the Cavs can no longer afford.

Then there’s Hunter. The upgrade from Georges Niang and Caris LeVert was clear. But on a roster where the five starters command over $170 million, does a $24 million bench piece make sense? Not under the apron rules.

Eventually, the Cavaliers may have to consider subtraction from the top — and that leads to Darius Garland, a two-time All-Star and coming off a banner year.

Garland, under contract for three more seasons at $167 million, is both a cornerstone and a conundrum. His pairing with Donovan Mitchell has yet to yield deep playoff success, and both have struggled to stay healthy in May.

If Cleveland is going to open its championship window wider, trading Garland might be the most logical lever to pull, Hollinger wrote.

The right deal could alleviate the financial squeeze and retool the roster around Mitchell, Mobley and Jarrett Allen. The wrong one risks setting the franchise back — or worse, wasting the prime of its stars.

There’s no easy way out, and Cleveland isn’t alone. The Celtics, widely seen as the East’s other juggernaut, are dealing with their own version of this problem, now complicated by Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury and an escalating payroll. Even smaller-market upstarts like Oklahoma City will eventually face the same dilemma: Pay the tax and risk the penalties, or let talent walk and take a step back.

The new CBA was designed to create parity. It’s also created a race against the clock, a sprint to win before the money runs out or the rules change the game.

For now, the Cavs can take pride in what they have built. But the work is only beginning. What started as a heartwarming reunion story between old college friends now collides with the cold logic of cap sheets and tax bands.

The Cavs could still run it back. They could also look very different by the time training camp rolls around.

And that’s the story in the NBA now — no matter how good you are, the bill always comes due.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Garland and Okoro and our 2 seconds to Brooklyn for the 4 first rounders is only path I see this year for change. Mitchell made the decisions last year with contract holdoff. He can’t do that this year. His size dictates he’s a point guard.

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