Cleveland Sports Forum

Bobby Marks
@BobbyMarks42

Jones is on a $2.6M expiring contract.

Cap space or a trade exception is not needed because Jones is on a veteran minimum contract.

So Cavs did not use any of their exemption money !

Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
·
2h
Free agent G Ty Jerome has agreed on a two-year, $5 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his agent Mark Bartelstein of
@PrioritySports
tells ESPN.

16. Ty Jerome, 25, Golden State (two-way)
The best-educated player in any room he enters, Jerome led my Wahoos to a natty in 2019 but hadn’t gained traction as a pro until signing a two-way with Golden State last year and improbably cracking the regular-season rotation for the defending champs for a good chunk of the year. Jerome wasn’t playoff-eligible but finished the year with a 59.4 percent true shooting mark despite dramatically slashing his 3-point attempts, with the help of an elite floater game.

Jerome is an unrestricted free agent who is no longer two-way eligible, and the Warriors’ crowded roster may make it hard to bring him back. His defensive limitations make it hard to project him to a bigger role, but he’s skilled enough to help a second unit offensively.

8. Max Strus, 27, Miami: $11,226,772
Strus showed his case for getting a bag during Miami’s playoff run: Though a bit streaky, he’s an extreme high-volume 3-point shooter (13.2 attempts per 100 possessions career) with solid accuracy (37.1 percent), and he contributes enough in other areas to stay on the court. That allows him to fit with a variety of lineup combinations, even if his bottom-line stats (10.8 PER, 55.7 percent true shooting) don’t set the heart racing.

Miami has full Bird rights on Strus but is in a tough position because of the impending second apron and the fact that the Heat are $11 million over the tax line before they pay him a cent. That could inspire other teams to pounce with strong offers, knowing Miami might be reluctant to keep up. As with Oubre above, a multi-year deal for the non-taxpayer MLE seems like a strong possibility.

16. Georges Niang, 30, Philadelphia: $4,604,928
The Minibus shot 40.1 percent from 3 last season, is at 40.3 percent for his career and shoots 3s as frequently as nearly any other player in the league. That’s about all you need to know. He’s undersized for the four, not a great defender, doesn’t rebound, and he rarely shoots inside the arc, but those 3s are really valuable.

Depending on what shape-shifting the Sixers do in the offseason and how they juggle their tax situation, it’s possible Niang won’t be back. He’d be a great fit as a backup four nearly anywhere because of his shooting, and should have plentiful offers around the room or taxpayer exception … if not more.

Koby got a STEAL in Ty Jerome. He's shooting pretty much 50/40/90 for his shooting splits. Getting him at this price is crazy. He averaged around 7 points and 3 assists in only 17 minutes per game. He's also 6,5 and 200 pounds which makes him a bigger guard. At 25 he can grow.

Really impressed with what Gansey GM and Koby Altman have gotten done !

John Hollinger

Cavaliers​
The Cavs’ weaknesses were displayed during their playoff implosion against New York, and Cleveland spent the opening days of free agency addressing them. The hope is that the Cavs added enough shooting that Donovan Mitchell won’t have the Knicks’ entire team waiting for him in the paint on his drives this coming spring.​
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In particular, Cleveland took advantage of the most permissive trade rules under the new CBA and its considerable wiggle room below the luxury-tax line to engineer a sign-and-trade that turned Cedi Osman into Max Strus. It only cost the Cavs a second-round pick, and Strus’ deal is reasonable (four years, $63 million) for what he gives them. Free agency tends to trend old, but Strus is 27, and the Cavs likely bought the best years of his career.​
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For the frontcourt, Cleveland went after Georges Niang, who might not be worth $26 million over three years on some other rosters but could easily justify it on this one. The Cavs’ shot blockers (Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley) ease the concerns over Niang on defense, and he’s a career 40.3 percent shooter from 3. He’ll fill the role left open after the Cavs soured on Kevin Love (oops) and Dean Wade proved wanting.​
​
The Cavs also needed another guard who could provide some offense after Ricky Rubio and Raul Neto failed to provide much juice. It appears they used the leftover piece of their midlevel exception to add Ty Jerome for slightly more than the minimum, thus preventing the over-the-second-apron Warriors from matching. Jerome played on a two-way last season but is a good shooter with an advanced floater game. Just like Niang, his defensive vulnerabilities are lessened by the two fly swatters waiting behind him.​
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The Cavs also resisted going overboard to re-sign their own player, Caris LeVert (two years, $32 million is reasonable here), and his deal is now timed to expire at the franchise’s next big pivot point in 2025, when Mitchell could become a free agent and Mobley will be eligible for a max extension. Cleveland also sent $110,000 to Utah for backup big man Damian Jones.​
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Cleveland still has three open roster spots and will likely fill two of them; the Cavs could still use another forward in the 6-foot-8 range. If they add two veterans at the minimum and waive the non-guaranteed Sam Merrill, the Cavs will enter the year with a $1 million cushion below the tax line.​
​

Ty Jerome: best-educated player in the room

bio says he was U of Virginia American Studies major. What else do we know about him?

Gentleman writing that is also a Virginia alumni . Hence the best educated.

Ah hah.

Is it the right time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade Donovan Mitchell?

After two crucial injuries on the roster, what options do the Cleveland Cavaliers have with Donovan Mitchell ? Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer
Dec 19, 2023, 08:00 AM ET
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When the Cleveland Cavaliers announced Friday that two of their three leading scorers are set to undergo surgery, it raised questions about the remaining healthy star in that group.

With All-Star guard Darius Garland (jaw fracture) and 2022-23 All-Defensive first team Evan Mobley (arthroscopic surgery on his left knee) set to miss at least four weeks apiece -- Mobley's expected timeline is six to eight weeks -- the Cavaliers must confront the possibility that a deep playoff run is no longer in the cards this season.

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That, in turn, affects the future of All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell, who has two years remaining on his contract before a player option allows him to test unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025. Cleveland was already facing a difficult decision on whether to take Mitchell into a potential walk year in pursuit of a championship or trade him in time to recoup some of the draft picks sent to the Utah Jazz to acquire Mitchell in September last year.

If the Cavaliers believe their 2023-24 season has already been derailed by injury, they may have to move up the timetable for that decision in order to maximize Mitchell's trade value. Let's look at the questions Cleveland must answer, as well as potential suitors should the Cavaliers make their star guard available for trade.


Can Cleveland still be a playoff threat?
The Cavaliers did get some good news Saturday when they defeated the slumping Atlanta Hawks at home, improving to eighth in the East at 14-12. Mitchell's presence, along with All-Star center Jarrett Allen, means Cleveland is hardly doomed without Garland and Mobley in the lineup for the next month.

The Cavaliers face a pair of problems as they project out the rest of their season, however. First, the Eastern Conference looks deeper than expected. With the emergence of the Orlando Magic, who beat Cleveland at home last week in a game Mobley missed but Garland played, there are six East teams on pace for 46 wins or more. That's an upgrade from last season, when 42 wins were all it took to avoid the play-in tournament in the top-heavy conference.

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Second, the Cavaliers simply haven't been all that good at full strength compared to 2022-23, when they won 51 games and had the NBA's second-best point differential at plus-5.4 PPG. In the 11 games where Cleveland had its first-choice starting lineup (Allen, Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and newcomer Max Strus), the team was 6-5 with a plus-2.5 point differential.

As a result, the Cavaliers can't count on making up ground quickly when Garland and Mobley return, which suggests they're more likely than not headed to the play-in tournament. ESPN Analytics' BPI projections show Cleveland advancing directly to the playoffs as a top-six seed in just 37% of simulations.

Yes, the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers showed last year that it's possible to make a deep playoff run from the play-in. Those were experienced playoff teams with recent Finals appearances to their credit, however. The Cavaliers underperformed in a first-round upset against the New York Knicks last season, and of their core players, only Mitchell has ever advanced to even the second round. If Cleveland can no longer count on anything more than a one-and-done playoff appearance, trading Mitchell now looks more palatable.


Injuries to Evan Mobley and Darius Garland may change the trajectory of Donovan Mitchell's future this season. David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Can the Cavaliers reasonably keep Mitchell next season?
In an era where star players typically sign extensions rather than hitting free agency, Cleveland keeping Mitchell without one next summer would be unorthodox. Over the past two free agencies, just three players have become unrestricted within two years of an All-NBA appearance: Bradley Beal and James Harden in 2022 and Kyrie Irving last summer.

All three of those players were in substantially different situations than Mitchell. Beal had played his entire career for the Washington Wizards, signing a pair of extensions when the conditions were more favorable before re-signing in free agency. Harden and Irving had arrived with new teams the previous deadline after trade requests and both also chose to re-sign.

To find a better comparison for Mitchell requires going back to the 2018-19 season, when several teams had impending free agents they knew might look elsewhere at season's end. The Boston Celtics acquired Irving with two years left until free agency, while the Toronto Raptors actually added Kawhi Leonard heading into his walk year. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors had former MVP Kevin Durant's free agency hanging over their defense of two titles with him on the roster.

All three teams considered themselves championship contenders. The Celtics flamed out in the second round against the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Raptors and Warriors reached the Finals, where Leonard led Toronto to a title and won Finals MVP honors before departing for the LA Clippers in free agency. Durant, who ruptured his right Achilles against Leonard's Raptors in Game 5 of the Finals, and Irving jointly signed with the Brooklyn Nets during the offseason.

Given their chance at a championship, the Warriors and Raptors probably would play things out the same way. Boston saw speculation over Irving's departure overshadow its season and didn't reap the expected benefits in the playoffs. Trading Irving would have made more sense in hindsight.

We've seen stars surprise us by staying put in the past. Like Toronto, the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Paul George heading into his final season before free agency in pursuit of a title. Despite losing in the opening round to the Jazz in 2018, Oklahoma City was able to re-sign George to a long-term contract and got a ransom in return when he requested a trade to join Leonard with the Clippers the following summer after another first-round playoff exit.

Still, the history is clear. Keeping a star (or acquiring one) for a walk year only makes sense if there's a realistic chance at winning a championship. Based on what we've seen so far from the Cavaliers this season, that's a tough case to make for 2024-25.

Will the market for Mitchell be better next summer?
The strongest case for patience by the Cavaliers would be the possibility of getting similar value in a trade for Mitchell next summer. There are a couple of factors worth considering here. Right now, Mitchell would clearly be the biggest star available for trade, accelerating the bidding war among teams that could reasonably expect to extend or re-sign him. In particular, the Nets, Knicks and Heat fit that group.

At the same time, putting together a blockbuster trade midseason can be more challenging because teams must have room on their roster to add all the players they acquire. Cleveland should be able to work around that challenge with an open roster spot, plus two more players (Sam Merrill and Tristan Thompson) on non-guaranteed contracts. (Cleveland will have to decide whether to guarantee the players' contracts before Jan. 8.)

Additionally, Mitchell's modest salary for a star ($33.2 million) means it's unlikely another team will have to cobble together multiple contracts to match. Miami has Tyler Herro ($27 million) and Kyle Lowry ($29.7 million) in that range, New York nearly gets there with Evan Fournier's $18.9 million salary and Brooklyn could use either Spencer Dinwiddie ($20.4 million) or Ben Simmons ($37.9 million) as the centerpiece.

Depending on the construction, it might be easier to trade with these teams now because Dinwiddie and Lowry have expiring contracts, while Fournier's deal is effectively expiring because his $19 million base salary for 2024-25 is a team option.

The Heat and Knicks are in a similar position in terms of their desire to have Mitchell now, ahead of the 2024 playoffs. Both teams are ahead of the Cavaliers in the East standings, putting them in position to make the playoffs directly. In a conference with two teams (Boston and Philadelphia) sporting differentials of plus-9.0 PPG or better, neither team would be anything close to the favorite to come out of the East, but adding Mitchell could be the difference between winning a round or not.

There's presumably less urgency for the Nets, who are mired in the East play-in picture aside Cleveland. At the same time, any team acquiring Mitchell now would have a full offseason to retool the roster around him, as we saw the Phoenix Suns do last summer after adding Durant from Brooklyn at the trade deadline.

Until we know how much interested teams are willing to offer, it's hard to say if the Cavaliers definitely should trade Mitchell now. Yet it's increasingly evident Cleveland would be mistaken not to begin trade conversations before the deadline.

Even if a trade doesn't materialize by the deadline, opening trade negotiations now could ultimately set up a deal down the road. We saw that happen with the Memphis Grizzlies and Mike Conley in 2019. The Grizzlies held on to Conley at the deadline despite trading away their other franchise cornerstone, Marc Gasol. Memphis was ultimately able to deal Conley to the Utah Jazz before the draft, facilitating their rapid rebuild around No. 2 pick Ja Morant.

With Garland on an extension through 2027-28 and Mobley still awaiting an extension to his rookie contract, the Cavaliers can't prioritize slim hopes at contending during Mitchell's contract over their ability to keep this window open through the primes of their other stars.

Until we know how much interested teams are willing to offer, it's hard to say if the Cavaliers definitely should trade Mitchell now. Yet it's increasingly evident Cleveland would be mistaken not to begin trade conversations before the deadline.

Guess that kind of says it all.

they keep winning without him; or Garland or Mobley; or Rubio or Jerome. So obviously they are all expendable.