2025-26 Off-Season

[toooskies]

Fun to see the Cavs netted an $11 million trade exception from the Okoro/Ball deal. I don’t expect them to utilize it, but, gives the imagination something to play with.


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How did that actually happen BTW? Did we have an old trade exception that Ball fit into, or is there an obscure league rule at play here? Are we sure it's not a typo and it's a $1M trade exception?

Regardless of how we got it, it's practically useless unless we do something like trade a player for expirings (without generating a TE in that deal) to get out of the 2nd apron NEXT year, then get back up to the 2nd apron limit at the very start of next league year with the TE.

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. We sort of preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

That doesn't make sense to me though, how does a player due to make $10m count as nothing in a trade? Even non-guaranteed salaries count and become guaranteed in trades.

I feel like every player would get Ball-style protections to circumvent the cap if this kind of thing is allowed.

[JonFromVA]

How did that actually happen BTW? Did we have an old trade exception that Ball fit into, or is there an obscure league rule at play here? Are we sure it's not a typo and it's a $1M trade exception?

Regardless of how we got it, it's practically useless unless we do something like trade a player for expirings (without generating a TE in that deal) to get out of the 2nd apron NEXT year, then get back up to the 2nd apron limit at the very start of next league year with the TE.

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. We sort of preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

That doesn't make sense to me though, how does a player due to make $10m count as nothing in a trade? Even non-guaranteed salaries count and become guaranteed in trades.

I feel like every player would get Ball-style protections to circumvent the cap if this kind of thing is allowed.

Well if players want to volunteer to get hurt and insurance buys off on it and is willing to pay their salary for the season, there might be something to exploit; otherwise it's just a special situation.

Why did they bother making this an exception? Not sure, perhaps it keeps the books cleaner somehow.

Anyway, the Cavs love to find holes in the CBA, we'll have to see how big of a hole this is and whether the Cavs bother to try to exploit it.

Given they could have traded anyone up to Chicago's TPE value, it's interesting that Okoro was an exact match for Ball.

Maybe Altman didn't want to risk the league viewing the trade as a circumvention, they were surprised as we were, or it just worked out that way.

[toooskies]

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. We sort of preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

That doesn't make sense to me though, how does a player due to make $10m count as nothing in a trade? Even non-guaranteed salaries count and become guaranteed in trades.

I feel like every player would get Ball-style protections to circumvent the cap if this kind of thing is allowed.

Well if players want to volunteer to get hurt and insurance buys off on it and is willing to pay their salary for the season, there might be something to exploit; otherwise it's just a special situation.

Why did they bother making this an exception? Not sure, perhaps it keeps the books cleaner somehow.

Anyway, the Cavs love to find holes in the CBA, we'll have to see how big of a hole this is and whether the Cavs bother to try to exploit it.

Given they could have traded anyone up to Chicago's TPE value, it's interesting that Okoro was an exact match for Ball.

Maybe Altman didn't want to risk the league viewing the trade as a circumvention, they were surprised as we were, or it just worked out that way.

Just seems like you could do this:

1. Put into the contract a super-rare condition that could trigger a void of the contract with insurance covering it.
2. Have the player insure their contract fully against the super-rare condition, which should be cheap.
3. That player is now tradeable to any team and counts as no salary? You could trade them straight up for draft picks, send them to apron-constrained teams, etc.? If you want them to count as salary you just fully guarantee the contract?

Why wouldn't you do that with literally every contract you hand out?

[JujitsuFlip]

Fun to see the Cavs netted an $11 million trade exception from the Okoro/Ball deal. I don’t expect them to utilize it, but, gives the imagination something to play with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How did that actually happen BTW? Did we have an old trade exception that Ball fit into, or is there an obscure league rule at play here? Are we sure it's not a typo and it's a $1M trade exception?

Regardless of how we got it, it's practically useless unless we do something like trade a player for expirings (without generating a TE in that deal) to get out of the 2nd apron NEXT year, then get back up to the 2nd apron limit at the very start of next league year with the TE.

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. So we may have preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed and of course the ever confusing fine print of the CBA.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

I can't find anything in the actual CBA that specifies a season, so not sure if the Cavs can use it.

[JonFromVA]

That doesn't make sense to me though, how does a player due to make $10m count as nothing in a trade? Even non-guaranteed salaries count and become guaranteed in trades.

I feel like every player would get Ball-style protections to circumvent the cap if this kind of thing is allowed.

Well if players want to volunteer to get hurt and insurance buys off on it and is willing to pay their salary for the season, there might be something to exploit; otherwise it's just a special situation.

Why did they bother making this an exception? Not sure, perhaps it keeps the books cleaner somehow.

Anyway, the Cavs love to find holes in the CBA, we'll have to see how big of a hole this is and whether the Cavs bother to try to exploit it.

Given they could have traded anyone up to Chicago's TPE value, it's interesting that Okoro was an exact match for Ball.

Maybe Altman didn't want to risk the league viewing the trade as a circumvention, they were surprised as we were, or it just worked out that way.

Just seems like you could do this:

1. Put into the contract a super-rare condition that could trigger a void of the contract with insurance covering it.
2. Have the player insure their contract fully against the super-rare condition, which should be cheap.
3. That player is now tradeable to any team and counts as no salary? You could trade them straight up for draft picks, send them to apron-constrained teams, etc.? If you want them to count as salary you just fully guarantee the contract?

Why wouldn't you do that with literally every contract you hand out?

a) You have to find an insurer to insure that rare condition
b) The player has to contract the rare condition
c) The insurance company needs to agree and pay the player's salary

And then you've got the situation, albeit thinking about it that way Ball actually played 35 games last season, but maybe some of the insurance premiums were delayed? Or Lonzo partially matched some of Okoro's salary?

Who knows.

[KuruptedCav]

That doesn't make sense to me though, how does a player due to make $10m count as nothing in a trade? Even non-guaranteed salaries count and become guaranteed in trades.

I feel like every player would get Ball-style protections to circumvent the cap if this kind of thing is allowed.

Well if players want to volunteer to get hurt and insurance buys off on it and is willing to pay their salary for the season, there might be something to exploit; otherwise it's just a special situation.

Why did they bother making this an exception? Not sure, perhaps it keeps the books cleaner somehow.

Anyway, the Cavs love to find holes in the CBA, we'll have to see how big of a hole this is and whether the Cavs bother to try to exploit it.

Given they could have traded anyone up to Chicago's TPE value, it's interesting that Okoro was an exact match for Ball.

Maybe Altman didn't want to risk the league viewing the trade as a circumvention, they were surprised as we were, or it just worked out that way.

Just seems like you could do this:

1. Put into the contract a super-rare condition that could trigger a void of the contract with insurance covering it.
2. Have the player insure their contract fully against the super-rare condition, which should be cheap.
3. That player is now tradeable to any team and counts as no salary? You could trade them straight up for draft picks, send them to apron-constrained teams, etc.? If you want them to count as salary you just fully guarantee the contract?

Why wouldn't you do that with literally every contract you hand out?

They actually have to get hurt and insurance is paying out.

And I think it works out as two transactions:

1) Ball’s salary goes from $10 million to $2 million as insurance is paying 80%. This is less than the league minimum for a player with his experience, so the Cavs as a 2nd Apron team could acquire him using the minimum exception.

2) Okoro was then traded into the $11 million from the TPE, creating a new TPE.

3) Insurance will continue paying until he plays 45 consecutive games without missing due to his knee injury. So, presumably, the Cavs tax bill reduces at settlement .


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[JonFromVA]

How did that actually happen BTW? Did we have an old trade exception that Ball fit into, or is there an obscure league rule at play here? Are we sure it's not a typo and it's a $1M trade exception?

Regardless of how we got it, it's practically useless unless we do something like trade a player for expirings (without generating a TE in that deal) to get out of the 2nd apron NEXT year, then get back up to the 2nd apron limit at the very start of next league year with the TE.

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. So we may have preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed and of course the ever confusing fine print of the CBA.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

I can't find anything in the actual CBA that specifies a season, so not sure if the Cavs can use it.

Could have been AI hallucinating.

[JujitsuFlip]

Apparently it was generated because Lonzo's salary was being paid by insurance, so the Bulls needed to absorb Okoro's salary using one of their trade exceptions which generated a new one for us.

Thanks to the fine print which apparently says a second apron team cannot use a trade exception generated in the previous year, we might actually be able to use this one or even just a part of it - if we're willing to dive deeper in to luxury tax. So we may have preserved the Ty Jerome salary slot by pulling this off, but with a lot more optionality on how we proceed and of course the ever confusing fine print of the CBA.

What we can't do is use the TPE to pay a bought out player, so, for instance if LeBron is bought out before the season starts, we could actually sign him, but just for the minimum.

I can't find anything in the actual CBA that specifies a season, so not sure if the Cavs can use it.

Could have been AI hallucinating.

I saw someone on RCF say that but nothing was cited. The only thing i can find is 2nd apron teams can't use TPEs but even that is not in the actual CBA, that i can find.

Heck if i know. If we can use it, sweet. If not, no biggie.

[FromTheLand]

https://www.fearthesword.com/2025/7/17/24469698/cavs-traded-player-exception-isaac-okoro-lonzo-ball-koby-altman-cleveland-cavaliers

[JujitsuFlip]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

[toooskies]

I wouldn’t trade Wade at this point unless we get a plus defender back.

[ijspeelman]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

I am curious what they are looking to turn Wade into. He's on such a team-friendly deal that I cannot see an equal player coming back

[KuruptedCav]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

I am curious what they are looking to turn Wade into. He's on such a team-friendly deal that I cannot see an equal player coming back

Move him into the Max Kleber trade exception for a pick swap with Dallas. Sign Love and Oladipo (assuming he showed alright) to bring them to 14 and save some change would be my thought.


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[JonFromVA]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

A lot of people are really concerned with the 2nd apron and expect the Cavs to start cutting salary. Someone even bothered writing an article (or maybe AI did) suggesting the Cavs would be trying to trade Hunter to dump his salary.

I remain hesitant to make assumptions given we're just heading in to it and the Cavs themselves have said so little. Sure Mobley qualifying for the super max was a surprise, and we did cut some corners by choosing to keep Merrill and let Jerome walk and we can even let Ball go after this season; but I suspect it comes down to how much success this team has in the playoffs moving forward and how much faith we have in our contingencies.

[JujitsuFlip]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

I am curious what they are looking to turn Wade into. He's on such a team-friendly deal that I cannot see an equal player coming back

Move him into the Max Kleber trade exception for a pick swap with Dallas. Sign Love and Oladipo (assuming he showed alright) to bring them to 14 and save some change would be my thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fedor's piece made it sound like if they trade Wade, Tomlin will eventually be converted to a standard deal.

[JujitsuFlip]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

I am curious what they are looking to turn Wade into. He's on such a team-friendly deal that I cannot see an equal player coming back

It seems like if Wade is moved it will be for the LeVert reason. He is an expiring deal and they are pretty sure they can't re-sign him for the number he wants.

So Koby's thought it since we're a 2nd apron team, better to get something for him than nothing.

[JujitsuFlip]

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/07/are-the-cavs-done-making-roster-improvements-hey-chris.html?outputType=amp

Wow a juicy piece by Fedor.

Cavs still trying to trade Wade.

Cavs went to Oladipo's workout and might sign him into spot 14 for extra ball handling.

A lot of people are really concerned with the 2nd apron and expect the Cavs to start cutting salary. Someone even bothered writing an article (or maybe AI did) suggesting the Cavs would be trying to trade Hunter to dump his salary.

I remain hesitant to make assumptions given we're just heading in to it and the Cavs themselves have said so little. Sure Mobley qualifying for the super max was a surprise, and we did cut some corners by choosing to keep Merrill and let Jerome walk and we can even let Ball go after this season; but I suspect it comes down to how much success this team has in the playoffs moving forward and how much faith we have in our contingencies.

I don't think the Cavs care too much this season or even next season. But Koby does realize how restrictive the 2nd apron he is, so probably trying to find someone with Wade money but a longer deal. What position that ends up being is a different question.

[toooskies]

It’s more that it’s hard to pay an 11th man $7m a year. Nance may have jumped him in the rotation.

[JujitsuFlip]

It’s more that it’s hard to pay an 11th man $7m a year. Nance may have jumped him in the rotation.

Idk if i agree with any of that.

Nance is a 5 who can play some 4. Wade is a 4 who can play some 3 and last season did an awful job playing some 5.

1. Mitchell
2. Mobley
3. Garland
4. Allen
5. Strus
6. Hunter
7. Merrill
8. Ball (played 70 games total in 4 years)
9. LNJ (averaged 49 games per season since leaving the Cavs)
10. ?

I fail to see who is in front of Wade for spot 10 in Kenny's rotation. Unless you believe we're going to sign whoever in spot 14 to take his minutes. Also, Wade only makes 4% of the team salary cap... That is absolute peanuts.

[toooskies]

It’s more that it’s hard to pay an 11th man $7m a year. Nance may have jumped him in the rotation.

Idk if i agree with any of that.

Nance is a 5 who can play some 4. Wade is a 4 who can play some 3 and last season did an awful job playing some 5.

1. Mitchell
2. Mobley
3. Garland
4. Allen
5. Strus
6. Hunter
7. Merrill
8. Ball (played 70 games total in 4 years)
9. LNJ (averaged 49 games per season since leaving the Cavs)
10. ?

I fail to see who is in front of Wade for spot 10 in Kenny's rotation. Unless you believe we're going to sign whoever in spot 14 to take his minutes. Also, Wade only makes 4% of the team salary cap... That is absolute peanuts.

If he’s the 10th man and not the 11th man, fine. But with my summer league glasses on I think Tyson will push him for minutes at the 3. Tyson has more offensive chops and the Cavs have an interest in seeing what they have in him, while Wade is a known commodity at this point.

I think Nance is more of a 4 than a 5 and we could still be looking for a 5.

Not that I want to part with Wade but Gilbert probably only wants to pay guys who are going to play in the postseason.