The Cavaliers spent last season carrying the NBA’s heaviest payroll, and they did it as the league’s only second-apron team. Owner Dan Gilbert was on the hook for $211 million for a team that reached the Conference Finalist, a figure that came in about four million above the NBA champion New York Knicks.
This offseason, Koby Altman steered Cleveland into a much cleaner financial spot. The front office got the Cavs under both the first and second apron, though the path there took patience and pushed business into mid-August.
A big piece of that puzzle was the sign-and-trade that brought in young athletic forward Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets. Watson landed a four-year, $88 million deal that includes a player option and a trade kicker.
That move only became possible after James Harden agreed to lower his annual salary by taking a three-year, $97 million contract rather than a more expensive two-year deal.
With Watson’s contract, the waiving of Cam Whitmore and the low-cost signing of 2022 draft pick Khalifa Diop, Cleveland sits just under the first apron hard cap of $209.015 million.
That matters because the Cavs lived with plenty of restrictions a year ago. They could not make sign-and-trades to bring players in, and they were blocked from adding a waived buyout player if his previous salary was above the non-taxplayer midlevel exception.
The second apron also tightened the trade market. When Altman had to decide on Darius Garland in February, his choices were severely limited. He could not package extra players the way most teams can; instead, he had to look at players making the exact same salary as Garland.
Only three players fit that bill: New Orleans forward Zion Williamson, recently dealt Portland guard Ja Morant, and the player Cleveland ultimately chose, James Harden.
Now that the Cavs are below both aprons, they’ll have more freedom to make trades without those stricter salary-matching rules.
For now, the roster looks largely locked in. Cleveland could make some two-way promotions during the season, but the main group should stay together.
If the year goes sideways and Altman has to make a move before the trade deadline, the two names most likely to come up are center Jarrett Allen and guard Sam Merrill.
Allen, the longest-tenured Cavalier, is entering the first season of the three-year, $91 million extension he signed in July 2024. He was outstanding for Cleveland after the James Harden trade, putting up 19.7 points and 10.0 rebounds on 71% shooting after Feb.
- Even so, he might be the most valuable contract the Cavs would be forced to consider moving if the team fell into a rough patch.
Merrill is coming off a career season at 29, with personal bests in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and minutes per game. He also hit a career-high 158 threes while shooting 42% from deep, and his perimeter defense has improved sharply since arriving in Cleveland. On a very manageable $9.1 million salary, he would draw interest from other teams because of that shooting.
If Merrill ever had to go, Cleveland does have young guards in Jaylon Tyson, Tyrese Proctor, Meleek Thomas and Craig Porter Jr. who could step into that spot.
For now, though, the Cavs are in a strong financial position entering the season. If they hit the level they expect in the Eastern Conference and remain a playoff threat, there should be no reason for a major shake-up in the locker room.
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