NBA Notes: Cavs, flexibility, Pistons, Cade Cunningham, Knicks

Cavaliers

The Cavaliers enter the offseason with one of the NBA’s most talented rosters.

They also enter it with one of the league’s most expensive payrolls.

As Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron recently outlined, Cleveland was the only team above the NBA’s second tax apron during the 2025-26 season, creating additional roster-building challenges moving forward.

Despite reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018, the Cavaliers now face difficult financial decisions as they attempt to remain contenders while navigating the league’s increasingly restrictive collective bargaining rules.

One potential solution could involve a new contract for James Harden.

The veteran guard is expected to decline his player option this summer, and a restructured deal carrying a lower cap number could help Cleveland create additional flexibility.

Moving below the second apron would restore several team-building tools currently unavailable to the Cavs, including the ability to aggregate salaries in trades.

The goal, of course, remains the same — keep a championship-caliber roster together while maintaining enough flexibility to improve it.

Pistons

Cade Cunningham’s breakout season may have been even more impressive than it first appeared.

According to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press, Cunningham played some of his best basketball after suffering a collapsed lung late in the regular season.

The Pistons star averaged 28.1 points, 7.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds during Detroit’s playoff run while shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range.

Already an All-NBA First Team selection, Cunningham appears firmly established as one of the league’s rising superstars.

If he earns another All-NBA nod next season, he could position himself for a designated veteran super-max extension down the road.

Knicks

Josh Hart scored just three points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Yet he was one of the biggest reasons the Knicks won, writes Zach Braziller of the New York Post.

Hart finished with a game-high 15 rebounds while adding six assists and four steals in New York’s 105-95 victory over San Antonio. The Knicks outscored the Spurs by 22 points during his 27 minutes on the floor.

It’s become a familiar theme.

Hart’s value rarely shows up solely in the scoring column, but it almost always shows up on the scoreboard.

“That’s just who he is,” Jalen Brunson said. “He just has a knack for doing things like that, and in crucial times as well.”

For a Knicks team now three wins away from a championship, those little things continue to add up in a big way.