This offseason shouldn’t prove to be as influential as last year's for the Cavaliers, but it could be pretty close. Kevin Love, LeBron James, and J.R. Smith all have opted out of their contracts to become unrestricted free agents, while Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova are all restricted free agents. It is possible that all of these guys will be back next year. It is also a possibility that the price tag is just too high on a few of them.
First off, there should be little to no worry about LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers. His decision to opt out was purely based on financial reasons and to stay in control. David Griffin said LeBron has been very engaged in helping them facilitate roster moves. Now for Kevin Love, he has reiterated multiple times he wants to play in Cleveland next season. There is always the chance that he is enticed by an opportunity elsewhere and takes a visit. They both should be locked up on one-year deals by the end of free agency.
Now for the restricted free agents, the Cavs have the option of matching any offer sheet these three guys sign. Tristan Thompson will make big bucks and stay on the Cavaliers on a long-term deal. Also Shumpert will probably be re-signed or have his offer sheet matched to stay with the Cavs for a while. Matthew Dellavedova is a wild card. The Cavs probably want to bring him back but not for too much money. If a team decides they liked what they saw out of Delly in the Finals and overpay him, Cleveland will let him walk. Matthew will probably be back next year as a second or third option at point guard.
Now that all of the current players are taken care of, who will the Cavs bring in that is new to the team? Well, they will be capped out and way into the luxury tax after bringing back their core guys. They will have no money to spend and the Mid-Level Exception will also be unavailable. But, the Cavs do have a trade piece on the roster. They could look to move Brendan Haywood’s non-guaranteed contract for a helpful piece. Some of their needs are: a wing defender with a reliable jump shot, backup point guard, and more facilitators in the backcourt. The Cavaliers will deal his contract and maybe some draft picks to pick up a veteran role player. Names like Jose Calderon, Mario Chalmers, Jamal Crawford, and O.J. Mayo are possible targets.
Not much is guaranteed this offseason for the Cavaliers but one thing we do know is GM David Griffin will have this roster looking better than it did last year. Griffin has proven he is one of the best at his job and he knows how to move around pieces in order to help the Cavs. All of the talk now is just speculation, but we will find out starting July 1st.