What's next for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
The Cavs enter the offseason with a building block in point guard Collin Sexton, questions surrounding Kevin Love, plenty of expiring contracts, a new head coach in John Beilein and the No. 5 pick in the draft.
After hitting a holding pattern following the departure of LeBron James, Cleveland now has a more clear path to rebuild this roster. Let's look ahead to the decisions facing the franchise in the summer.
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The steps in rebuilding
1. The new head coach
The track record of NBA teams hiring college coaches is not great. But Beilein inherits a roster that he can help shape through his own basketball identity, similar to when the Boston Celtics hired Brad Stevens in 2013.
Yes, there are veterans on the team in Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Matthew Dellavedova and John Henson. However, each player is on an expiring contract and will likely not be on the roster a year from now. After this season, Cleveland can wipe the slate clean and build around Love, Sexton, two first-round picks in 2019, Cedi Osman and Larry Nance Jr.
2. Collin Sexton
The play of Sexton this season was overshadowed by the disappointment of the team winning only 19 games. Not only did the guard justify Cleveland taking him with the No. 8 pick last June, but the 20-year-old also proved he is a cornerstone for this rebuild.
In the month of March, Sexton averaged 22.4 points while shooting 51 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from 3 in 35.1 minutes per game.
3. Kevin Love
The immediate reaction when Love agreed to a four-year, $120 million extension last year was that the forward would be traded when his six-month signing restriction was lifted in late January.
Instead, Love missed 52 games as a result of surgery on his left foot and is set to enter Year 1 of an extension that carries a $28.9 million cap hit.
Like it or not, Cleveland is likely committed to Love for two reasons:
If the power forward were a free agent, it's unlikely a team would sign him to a four-year, $120 million contract.
Until there is a more established basketball product to sell, Cleveland is not a destination for free agents, and shedding the Love contract to create cap space comes with little upside.
The question now comes down to if Love can stay healthy (he's missed 105 games in three seasons) and return to the form that earned him All-Star berths in 2017 and 2018.
4. Expiring contracts
Not including JR Smith (more on him to follow), Cleveland will enter the summer with five expiring contracts in Thompson, Knight, Jordan Clarkson, Henson and Dellavedova.
Like last year, when Henson, Knight and Dellavedova were acquired, Cleveland can choose to take back money that extends into 2020-21 with a first-round pick attached in a deal.
5. Draft assets and cap flexibility
With the expiring contracts coming off the books next June, Cleveland will be well positioned to have up to $50 million in salary-cap space.
Combining that flexibility with two first-round picks in June, a 2022 first from Milwaukee (top-10 protected) and possibly a lottery pick in 2020 (goes to Atlanta if it's outside the top 10) gives Cleveland multiple options with how to shape the roster.
The Cavaliers also have three trade exceptions worth $2.8 million, $1.5 million and $1.5 million.
Find a resolution with JR Smith
Smith hasn't played since logging six minutes in a loss to Detroit on Nov. 19. He was away from the team as both sides looked to find a resolution in a trade.
Cleveland now turns to the offseason to try to maximize the value of Smith's partially guaranteed contract. Because the contract was signed before the current collective bargaining agreement went into effect, Cleveland can use the full $15.7 million contract as outgoing salary and not just the fully protected amount ($3.7 million).
One example: Cleveland can take back the $18.5 million Allen Crabbe contract and a first-round pick from Brooklyn in exchange for Smith. The trade would give the Cavaliers another first-round pick and also clear money off the cap ledger for the Nets.
However, Cleveland is backed into a corner when it comes to taking back additional salary. Including the $3.7 million owed to Smith, Cleveland has $130.7 million in committed salary (including both first-round picks), $1.3 million below the luxury-tax line. So any Smith trade that saw Cleveland take back money would eventually lead to one of their expiring contracts -- namely Thompson or Clarkson -- needing to be traded.
Two possible scenarios for Cleveland if Smith isn't waived by July 1:
Cleveland could ask the guard to amend his contract to push back his guarantee date to July 15. This would give the Cavaliers a two-week window to find a trade partner (maybe the Dallas Mavericks?) that missed out on its free-agent targets. The Cavaliers would send future second round pick(s) and the acquiring team would eventually waive Smith. The trade would equate to a team buying a draft pick for $3.7 million.
The Cavs could stretch Smith's $3.7 million salary over three seasons and take on a $1.23 million cap hit. The Cavaliers would be $3.7 million below the tax with two roster spots open.
Summer cap breakdown
Resources available to build the roster
The draft: two first-round picks
Cash to buy a draft pick: $5.2 million
Exceptions: tax midlevel and minimum
Expiring contracts
Dates to watch and restrictions
• The Cavaliers will need to decide by June 29 whether to extend a $1.9 million qualifying offer on David Nwaba.
• The poison-pill restriction for Nance will be lifted July 1. Signed to a four-year, $48 million extension, Nance's current salary for trade purposes counts as $2.3 million as outgoing salary and $9.4 million for the acquiring team.
• Because Cleveland received $1.2 million as part of the Sam Dekker trade with the Clippers, the team is restricted to receive no more than $3.99 million in trades before July 1.
• Because Marquese Chriss saw his team option for 2019-20 declined by his former team, Cleveland cannot offer him a contract that exceeds $4.08 million, the amount he would have earned next season.
• The Cavaliers still have their full $5.2 million cash allotment to buy into the second round of the draft.
• Cleveland cannot trade a future first-round pick until 2022.
Extension candidates
One name to keep an eye on when it comes to a possible extension is Osman. After a breakout season (12.7 points per night in 53 starts), Osman is eligible to sign a four-year, $49 million extension starting July 18. If the Cavaliers hold off, Osman will become a restricted free agent in 2020 and will have a $5.5 million cap hold.
Cleveland also has Thompson, Knight, Clarkson, Henson and Dellavedova eligible for extensions.
The draft assets
There is a reason why the Cavaliers ranked tied for No. 2 in draft assets in our most recent future power rankings.
Not only do the Cavaliers have their own lottery pick this year along with the Rockets' first-rounder, but they also have a coveted top-10 protected first-rounder from Milwaukee in 2022. Although the Bucks had the league's best record this season, Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon are free agents in July, and the Bucks' bench could see a makeover because of financial restrictions.
Beside the first-round draft assets, Cleveland has a total of six second-round picks from 2020 to 2024.
Here's how ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have Cleveland selecting in June:
No. 5 (own): De'Andre Hunter | F | Virginia
No. 26 (via Houston): Goga Bitadze | C | Buducnost