Best move/worst move: Cleveland Cavaliers

[gswhoops]

$20 million a year for a non-All Star 5 is a pretty significant overpay and I don’t think he would have commanded that on the open market.

There's no reason to believe that Allen isn't going to be in the Myles Turner/Clint Capela range of value, and this contract is basically the same as theirs when adjusting for the increasing cap.

Turner and Capela are both better than Allen though. Kind of makes my earlier point, justifying a contract by saying that if this player improves by X amount it will be fair value isn’t exactly a great sign.

But honestly my bigger issue is that they mismanaged the process by giving him top-of-the-market money on day 1 of free agency. If he goes out and someone offers him $20M a year you always have the option to match (and you’re not locked into a 5th year). But given the way FA played out I would bet they could have gotten him back for significantly less.

[mg]

Worst: Inaction. No progress on any of the issues from last year. A team that was bad due to inexperience, injury, lack of depth, team drama, questionable fit, poor 3-point shooting, and poor 3-point defense has no reason to believe any of those problems will be less of a problem next year. They still have some options, but not a lot of good ones left.

Best: Rubio trade. Prince was never going to be a core guy or veteran leader with the Cavs and having an experienced PG should keep the second team together a lot better than Sexton playing out of position at PG. He should also have plenty to teach the young guys about running the team and playing defense. And if Sexton (or Garland) gets traded or hurt or needs to be benched to learn some lessons, you still have a respectable starting lineup.

Unfortunately when you have $31mil tied up in Kevin Love toward next year's cap it doesn't lend itself to much flexibility to make alot of other moves. It's been reported they did indeed talk to McBuckets, Oubre, Bullock and a few other FA's but they didn't have any capspace outside of the MLE.

[toooskies]

Turner and Capela are both better than Allen though. Kind of makes my earlier point, justifying a contract by saying that if this player improves by X amount it will be fair value isn’t exactly a great sign.

But honestly my bigger issue is that they mismanaged the process by giving him top-of-the-market money on day 1 of free agency. If he goes out and someone offers him $20M a year you always have the option to match (and you’re not locked into a 5th year). But given the way FA played out I would bet they could have gotten him back for significantly less.

The question you should ask is whether 2021 Allen was as good or better than 2018 Capela and Turner, not 2021 Capela and Turner. That's the point in their career they earned their current deals.

Also, I'm not a fan of nickel-and-diming a guy you want to keep around for 4-5 years. If he's enthusiastic about the full 5-year term, great. More than happy to keep a guy longer if he wants to be here.

Unfortunately when you have $31mil tied up in Kevin Love toward next year's cap it doesn't lend itself to much flexibility to make alot of other moves. It's been reported they did indeed talk to McBuckets, Oubre, Bullock and a few other FA's but they didn't have any capspace outside of the MLE.

Sure, you may have free agent targets and they may choose alternatives. There's about 5 contracts that look like "I got an MLE offer from the Cavs, can you match it" deals or straight "turned down more money elsewhere" deals that the Cavs could've used. But if that happens (and, honestly, it was a predictable outcome) you should still have a plan to possibly not be a bottom 5 team when you have a decent young core.

Then you move Love and picks for a rotation guy or two (Hield+filler or Gary Harris + Ross or something), or you buy him out and stretch him for some cap space, or you trade Sexton for a better fit and to reduce drama, or you S&T Josh Hart, or you at least sign James Ennis. The point is that doing nothing is kind of hopeless.

Everyone sees you when you're not trying to win. Five young guys to develop is already more than enough.

[tidho]

as mentioned, not a lot of activity - unfortunately

best move is Mobley

worst is Allen contract, an obvious overpay but at least not cripplingly so

as mentioned, the roster construction of this team is bad, but that have done a pretty good job aggregating talent. they also were smart enough to not sell assets to move off Love.

Sexton probably should have been moved, but its unclear what their options were so i'll give the benefit of the doubt on that one. Not addressing SF (again) is starting to become criminal, but its a good way to tank if that's remains the goal.

[shakes0]

Best: Anytime you get rid of god awful Prince and return a legit NBA rotation player who is also a great locker room guy you are way ahead of the game.

Worst: Cavs fans better hope that it's the Allen deal and not the passing of Suggs. That said, Mobley is going to be great as well.

[mcfly1204]

Best move: I like the Rubio trade, but I'll say standing pat.
Worst move: Not making an offer to Isaiah Hartenstein.

[jbk1234]

Allen will be a value contract in 2-3 years. The young man is only 23 years old.

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[Mr Loggins]

I agree with Zach Lowe’s take: cavs are fine. With Mobley, Sexton, Garland, Okoro, Allen and Nance they’ve done a good job accumulating young talent. Fit isn’t there, but the foundation to be a solid playoff contender in the next few years is.

[Stillwater]

Best move was lucking into Mobley... Not a huge believer in Cade or Green long term as being better picks overall.
Worst move not moving back into the draft for Prince replacement. But the offseason tech isnt over lol

[hoosierdaddy34]

Best: Drafting Mobley. Kid is going to be dominant

Worst: not getting Kevin Love out the door.

[Monky15]

Best: Trading for Rubio whose size can make Sexton more viable while also being playable with Garland, plenty of back court minutes to go around. Exum was looking good with Sexland and Rubio is that much better than Exum.

Worst: Not doing something with Love. Ideally he would medically retire but I think he has to much ego for that.

Curiosity: If Rubio were to fit real well with Sexton would that make Garland available and if so is a Garland / Love combo positive, neutral or negative value?

[babyjax13]

Best: not trading Sexton for crap, any of the top 5 would have been good choices so not going to give them much credit for that
Worst: not getting an asset for Nance yet

Love, it doesn't matter when they do something. He's cooked anyway, but Nance is on the clock.

[Colbinii]

Best: Clearly the Ricky Rubio trade. Gives the team a direction and a competent Point Guard who has thrived next to young big men [Karl-Anthony Towns LOVES him]. Rubio also gives the team a playmaker and pillow to fall back on and sets them up to compete for the play-in, which is a direction.

Worst: I guess not trading Sexton? Maybe I am ahead of the curve or maybe I am an idiot, but teams need to seriously consider trading any rookie, no matter how good they are, after year 3 if they don't plan on offering the Max. Get something of value when you can for these players who aren't cornerstones for the franchise.

edit: Allen deal. Terrible deal.

[K_chile22]

Best is getting a backup PG for some mostly bad salary and getting a second

Worst is giving Allen that deal. I hate the aav but even if you don't, giving it to him immediately at the start of FA instead of seeing where his market was, willing to bet it wasn't what he got based on the Holmes deal, a similar player who got pretty much half his AAV (reported salary included the trade kicker because apparently his agent has a lot of pull. Actual AAV is $11.6M). Seemed like they were just willing to give him whatever he wanted and he's not that kind of player.

[loserX]

Best is getting a backup PG for some mostly bad salary and getting a second

Not sure if this is what you meant, but Minnesota got the 2nd, not Cleveland

https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/releases/rubio-trade-210803

[Colbinii]

Allen will be a value contract in 2-3 years. The young man is only 23 years old.

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How many big men in the league would be on a value contract at that contract?

[K_chile22]

Best is getting a backup PG for some mostly bad salary and getting a second

Not sure if this is what you meant, but Minnesota got the 2nd, not Cleveland

https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/releases/rubio-trade-210803

Oh yeah, you're right, I keep forgetting which way it's going because iirc Woj said it was going to Cleveland at first then corrected. Still a good move nevertheless

[jbk1234]

Allen will be a value contract in 2-3 years. The young man is only 23 years old.

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How many big men in the league would be on a value contract at that contract?

I think Allen will easily be a top 5-8 center in 2-3 years, the cap will be North of $120M, and these awful contract takes will look silly.

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[Colbinii]

Allen will be a value contract in 2-3 years. The young man is only 23 years old.

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How many big men in the league would be on a value contract at that contract?

I think Allen will easily be a top 5-8 center in 2-3 years, the cap will be North of $120M, and these awful contract takes will look silly.

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Easily? Thats sort of preposterous.

Embiid, Jokic, Towns, Gobert, Ayton, Capela and Bam are nearly givens to be better. Then there are others who could have arguments.

I just don't see Allen as a true game changer, especially at that money. I hope for Cleveland he makes a massive leap and becomes worth the contract.

[K_chile22]

How many big men in the league would be on a value contract at that contract?

I think Allen will easily be a top 5-8 center in 2-3 years, the cap will be North of $120M, and these awful contract takes will look silly.

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Easily? Thats sort of preposterous.

Embiid, Jokic, Towns, Gobert, Ayton, Capela and Bam are nearly givens to be better. Then there are others who could have arguments.

I just don't see Allen as a true game changer, especially at that money. I hope for Cleveland he makes a massive leap and becomes worth the contract.

Also, past those guys the drop off is pretty big currently, not like it's linear from rank to rank