The Cleveland Cavaliers may spend next season leaning on a player who doesn’t even have to start to matter most.
Donovan Mitchell remains the likeliest answer if you’re naming the team’s best player, with Evan Mobley a candidate if he takes another step. James Harden has already shown he can still produce at a near All-Star level.
Jarrett Allen is still one of the more underrated two-way centers around. Peyton Watson arrives with plenty of upside.
But the player who may end up being the most essential piece is Sam Merrill.
That sounds strange on the surface, but the Cavaliers have spent the last two seasons losing the kind of shooters who made Kenny Atkinson’s offense hum. Two years ago, Cleveland won 64 games and rolled through the league offensively before Indiana knocked them out in the second round. Since then, the roster has changed a lot.
Ty Jerome is now with the Memphis Grizzlies after a career year in Atkinson’s system. Caris LeVert and Georges Niang were traded and have bounced around since.
Darius Garland has been replaced by James Harden, a completely different offensive player. This summer, Cleveland moved Max Strus to create the financial room to add Peyton Watson.
Dean Wade and Keon Ellis are elsewhere now too, and DeAndre Hunter didn’t work out.
That turnover leaves a real hole, especially with Strus gone. Losing a high-volume movement shooter changes the shape of an offense, and that is exactly the sort of loss Atkinson and his staff have to solve.
Merrill is the guy left standing.
He has grown into a real two-way wing, the kind of deep threat who can also give you enough playmaking, effort, and defensive know-how to stay on the floor. Around the league, coaching staffs know it even if casual fans don’t fully appreciate it yet.
Over four seasons in Cleveland, Merrill has averaged 10.3 triples per 36 minutes and made 39.7 percent of them. Last season, with Jerome gone and injuries hitting the roster in waves, he expanded his offensive game a bit more, but the shot is still the calling card. He hit 42.1 percent from beyond the arc.
The value is in the way he bends defenses. Merrill’s speed running off the ball forces opponents to track him while also trying to deal with Mitchell and Harden and keep Mobley and Allen away from the rim. That’s the job of a movement shooter: make everybody else work harder.
He’s not the kind of player teams usually trust for that role unless he can survive on defense too, and Merrill does enough there. He’s strong, he reads the floor well, and he compensates for his lack of length and athleticism with positioning and effort.
Cleveland doesn’t really have another player who does this same job. Garland once offered that kind of off-ball movement and shooting, but Harden isn’t the same type of weapon.
Jerome is gone. Strus is gone.
And the rest of the rotation doesn’t replicate Merrill’s blend of shooting and mobility.
So while he may not be the team’s best player, Merrill could be the one Cleveland can least afford to lose. He’ll need a real role, and he’ll need to keep making threes at a high clip.
No pressure, Sam.
In Other News...
Cavs Are Closing In On A Move That Changes Daily Life
The Cavaliers are getting ready for a change that goes well beyond a new address. During the NBA All-Star break in February, the team plans to move into the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center downtown, a facility that should give players and staff a far different day-to-day experience than the one theyve had in Independence.
The new building is expected to be significantly larger than the current practice site and come with multiple amenities designed around the needs of a modern NBA operation. Once the Cavs relocate, the Independence facility will take on a new role of its own, serving as the training home for the Cleveland Sirens, the WNBA expansion team set to begin play in 2028. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Latest Roster Upgrade Came From A Twist Fans Didnt Expect
The Cavaliers latest roster shake-up took shape through a chain of events that had less to do with Cleveland than with the wider league market, and it gave the front office a little more room to operate than expected. In the process, the team moved on from Dennis Schroder and brought in Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with Denver, while Max Strus was sent to the Clippers as part of the same broader shuffle.
What made the opening possible was James Harden declining his player option and then signing a new deal later than anticipated, which created the kind of cap flexibility that can change a summer plan in a hurry. Harden has also reportedly been involved in recruiting Watson and has been active in team workouts, a detail that adds an unusual layer to a move Cleveland fans probably did not see coming when the offseason started. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Suddenly Have A Real Path To The Easts Top Seed
The Cavaliers finished their offseason by adding two more pieces in James Harden and Peyton Watson, with Watson agreeing to a four-year deal, and it gives the roster a noticeably different look heading into the new season. Cleveland has been leaning into depth and athleticism around the core, with names like Mario Hezonja also part of the mix, and the front office seems to have built a group that can withstand the grind of the East better than it could a year ago.
What makes the conversation more interesting is how much of this comes down to fit as much as talent. The Cavaliers are not just collecting names, they are trying to stitch together a group that can settle in quickly, build chemistry and avoid the kind of uneven stretches that can cost a team in the standings. If the pieces come together the way Cleveland believes they can, the path to finishing atop the Eastern Conference suddenly looks more real than it did when the summer began. [Read more 🡒]