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CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: state of the franchise

State of the Franchise

Projected Cap Space (before luxury tax): $6 million

Background: After Cleveland went a combined 97-215 (0.31 win percentage), earning them three number one draft choices in the four seasons sans LeBron, a miracle occurred: LeBron returned! It is far beyond me or anybody much else to comprehend exactly why “The King” chose to return to Cleveland, where he had one title appearance and precisely zero titles in seven years, over his Miami Heat, where he had a title appearance in each of his four Heat seasons, winning two of them. Nevertheless, it was back to the Cavaliers for LeBron. Along with him, LeBron helped bring superstar PF Kevin Love to Cleveland, as well as many other veterans, signing on to a roster that already featured the sensational PG Kyrie Irving. This season, GM David Griffin dealt away a couple draft picks in order to bring defensive specialists C Timofey Mozgov and SG Iman Shumpert to a team that could really use some help on the less-glamorous side of the ball. However, in the Shumpert deal, Knicks President and 11-time champion Phil Jackson managed to stick Cleveland with SG JR Smith and his $6.4 million player option for next season. Despite the new additions and a star-studded team, Cleveland still hasn’t necessarily been firing on all cylinders this year. Granted, they have been much better than they were without LeBron, but that’s like saying your three-year-old daughter runs much faster than a slug. Lack of chemistry, continued defensive issues, and even a lack of respect for head coach David Blatt, among other things, have kept the Cavaliers’ record around .500, despite playing in the weak Eastern Conference. Only time will tell if they can turn things around, and that had better happen quick with Love and LeBron being free agents at the season’s end.

Current Financial State: Cavaliers fans everywhere are holding their breath in advance of this offseason. As touched on above, both LeBron James and Kevin Love could opt out of the final years of their contracts, for approximately $21.6 and $16.7 million, respectively. However, there should be minimal  concern among the fan base. As long as Cleveland doesn’t turn this season into a complete letdown, both James and Love should stick around. If either or both players do opt out, it would likely be just to re-sign with the Cavaliers on a long-term deal, and both could do so for about the same annual value as their respective player options. Next season is also the first where Kyrie Irving’s new 5 year/$90 million extension kicks in, but lucky for Cleveland, it counts for just $14.7 million against the cap in the first year. The unsightly contracts of C Anderson Varejao and the aforementioned JR Smith, at $9.7 and $6.4 million respectively, will hog precious cap room this offseason, effectively ending any chances for new additions. SG Shumpert and PF Tristan Thompson will also be free agents at season’s end, and while the latter is rather expendable (or could be re-signed for cheap), it is critical that the Cavaliers didn’t just take on Smith’s contract for nothing. Re-signing Shumpert could cost $5-6 million annually over a few years, which would really push Cleveland deep into the luxury tax. In addition, three-point specialist SF Mike Miller has a fairly reasonable $2.85 million player option for next year, which he will likely take. Fortunately, newly acquired C Timofey Mozgov has a team option of just under $5 million for next season, an absolute steal of a contract that the Cavaliers will certainly pick up. However, all told, this roster could cost up to $80 million next year. Hopefully for outspoken owner Dan Gilbert, a couple players will take modest pay cuts to get that number under the second luxury tax threshold at $77 million, or else Gilbert will be facing a massive luxury tax bill from the NBA.

Targets: The front office has expressed no interest in trying to shave down their payroll next year, acquiring Mozgov and JR Smith’s contracts that run through next year, as mentioned above. This trend does not figure to change anytime soon, with Gilbert seemingly ready to pay almost whatever it takes to finally bring a title to Cleveland. Most recently, several rumors have swirled about Cleveland acquiring a veteran backup point guard, because, as Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears noted, they are “a Kyrie Irving injury away from trouble.” Waived by the Clippers after acquiring G Austin Rivers, PG Jordan Farmar figures to be an intriguing fit. The 28-year-old could likely be had for the veteran’s minimum or $1 million at most over just one year, so his contract will not be an issue next year. The upside of signing someone like Farmar as opposed to trading for someone like Knicks PG Pablo Prigioni, whom the Cavaliers have been linked to in trade rumors, is that Cleveland doesn’t actually have to give anything to get Farmar. Farmar would certainly love to play for a contender, so this deal makes sense for both parties involved.

The Fit: A two-time champion that can distribute and light it up from deep, Jordan Farmar provides both championship pedigree and a spark off the bench for a team that needs it. Current backup PG Matthew Dellavedova simply isn’t getting it done behind Irving. In the event that Kyrie does go down with an injury, Farmar would be ready, willing and able to step up and run the point. After averaging 10 ppg and 5 apg to go along with 1.7 made three-pointers per game last year in just 22 minutes per game, Farmar is a very serviceable backup point guard. Despite a fairly steep drop off this season (4.5 ppg, 2 apg, 1 three pointer per game, and under 15 mpg), Farmar can step up when called upon, and could well be the missing piece in Cleveland’s 45-year long championship puzzle.
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