Cleveland/Utah

[bgrep14]

Cleveland: Merrill, Mann, and 2nd
Utah: Konchar

Cavs cut 11M of salary to attempt to sign Watson. Cavs can potentially stretch Konchar if they want to save more money or use him to take back Zeke Nnaji in the Watson sign and trade if necessary.

Utah gets a top shooter in NBA on a relatively team friendly contract plus a pick for nothing.

[SkyHook]

Cleveland: Merrill, Mann, and 2nd
Utah: Konchar

Cavs cut 11M of salary to attempt to sign Watson. Cavs can potentially stretch Konchar if they want to save more money or use him to take back Zeke Nnaji in the Watson sign and trade if necessary.

Utah gets a top shooter in NBA on a relatively team friendly contract plus a pick for nothing.

Not for nothing. Utah takes on an extra $11MM plus they have to cut a player. I think that's unlikely at this point.

[jbk1234]

If the Jazz would eat Mann for a 2nd, the Cavs would just keep Merrill, the Jazz could keep Konchar, and it would work out better for everyone.

[bgrep14]

If the Jazz would eat Mann for a 2nd, the Cavs would just keep Merrill, the Jazz could keep Konchar, and it would work out better for everyone.

I’m assuming they won’t do that which is why I included Merrill and a 2nd which I’m not sure how they view Merrill.

[babyjax13]

If the Jazz would eat Mann for a 2nd, the Cavs would just keep Merrill, the Jazz could keep Konchar, and it would work out better for everyone.

I’m assuming they won’t do that which is why I included Merrill and a 2nd which I’m not sure how they view Merrill.

Negatively. He is a fine player but we already have really good shooters off the bench who are much cheaper. Merril is better, but not so good we should pay him for it.

[jbk1234]

If the Jazz would eat Mann for a 2nd, the Cavs would just keep Merrill, the Jazz could keep Konchar, and it would work out better for everyone.

I’m assuming they won’t do that which is why I included Merrill and a 2nd which I’m not sure how they view Merrill.

There's been no reporting that the Cavs are interested in moving Merrill. None.

[SportsInfoBar]

Cavs record with Merrill 37-15 without 15-15. Seems like a useful player. It isnt all about PPG and stats, his gravity opens up for others. He is paid very very fairly for what he brings-very good defender and shooter.

[Texas Chuck]

I mean I'd hope nobody thinks Merrill is the difference between those two records. Correlation does not automatically equal causation. Maybe Jokic moves your record from .500 to that far over it. Maybe. Probably the only guy in the league. Mobley or Mitchell certainly don't, but we are to believe Merrill does?

That player would make a max. Any player who can shift win totals that far is a supermax player. Who cares how they do it, if they can do it.

He cannot do that. We should not imply he could do that. He's a specialist. Nice piece to a rotation. Nothing more.

[eminence]

I like Merrill (clear upgrade on the guys we have), but it feels a bit cheap to eat Mann.

[toooskies]

I mean I'd hope nobody thinks Merrill is the difference between those two records. Correlation does not automatically equal causation. Maybe Jokic moves your record from .500 to that far over it. Maybe. Probably the only guy in the league. Mobley or Mitchell certainly don't, but we are to believe Merrill does?

That player would make a max. Any player who can shift win totals that far is a supermax player. Who cares how they do it, if they can do it.

He cannot do that. We should not imply he could do that. He's a specialist. Nice piece to a rotation. Nothing more.

One big aspect of that record is that Merrill could absorb minutes competently while Garland was out at the beginning of the year. When Garland AND Merrill were out, the Cavs had serious depth issues at guard. In the two games where he was out that I looked at (Boston and Houston) the Cavs played Craig Porter Jr, Lonzo Ball, and Tyrese Proctor a combined 55+ minutes.

And when listing those three guards, it's important to know that none of them add any on-ball creation, so for them to be successful they needed another player (i.e. Mitchell) to be on-ball or for there to be really strong off-ball threats like Merrill. Early in the year when the Cavs had multiple guards out, you could feel the transformation brought to that particular roster.

So when Merrill was playing he was often converting replacement-level minutes with slightly-above-average-NBA-player minutes. Subtracting bad play is almost as important as adding good play.

The other thing to note about why the Cavs aren't trading Merrill now is with the departures of Wade, Ellis, Schroder, and Okoro the year before and Merrill's own personal improvement on that end, he's quietly one of the Cavs' better perimeter defenders. He's never going to be Alex Caruso and he's got a negative wingspan but his footspeed on defense has improved consistently year-over-year.

All of this is to say that the Cavs aren't in a position to move him for his perceived value.

[jbk1234]

My thoughts on Merrill are pretty simple: The Cavs have the benefit of an 18-game sample size of which role players were net positive on the court in the playoffs this last run. Merrill and Wade. That's it. That's the entire list. Wade is gone and Merrill only makes $9M. If trading a guy you know can be a net contributor in the playoffs who makes taxMLE money is the cost of bringing in Watson at $20M per, you pass on Watson. It's bad enough that the Cavs let Wade walk for taxMLE money.

[bgrep14]

I like Merrill (clear upgrade on the guys we have), but it feels a bit cheap to eat Mann.

You aren’t eating Mann since Cavs are eating Konchar. Your just taking on Merrill, a 2nd, and 1.5 M.

[bgrep14]

My thoughts on Merrill are pretty simple: The Cavs have the benefit of an 18-game sample size of which role players were net positive on the court in the playoffs this last run. Merrill and Wade. That's it. That's the entire list. Wade is gone and Merrill only makes $9M. If trading a guy you know can be a net contributor in the playoffs who makes taxMLE money is the cost of bringing in Watson at $20M per, you pass on Watson. It's bad enough that the Cavs let Wade walk for taxMLE money.

Merrill has been useless in the playoffs for 2 years minus 3 games which is why I’d prefer strus

[mcfly1204]

My thoughts on Merrill are pretty simple: The Cavs have the benefit of an 18-game sample size of which role players were net positive on the court in the playoffs this last run. Merrill and Wade. That's it. That's the entire list. Wade is gone and Merrill only makes $9M. If trading a guy you know can be a net contributor in the playoffs who makes taxMLE money is the cost of bringing in Watson at $20M per, you pass on Watson. It's bad enough that the Cavs let Wade walk for taxMLE money.

Merrill has been useless in the playoffs for 2 years minus 3 games which is why I’d prefer strus

Useless feels unnecessarily strong. He shot great in the Detroit series, he just did not get many attempts outside of game 7 where he put up 23 points on elite shooting numbers (70/62.5/100).

[jbk1234]

My thoughts on Merrill are pretty simple: The Cavs have the benefit of an 18-game sample size of which role players were net positive on the court in the playoffs this last run. Merrill and Wade. That's it. That's the entire list. Wade is gone and Merrill only makes $9M. If trading a guy you know can be a net contributor in the playoffs who makes taxMLE money is the cost of bringing in Watson at $20M per, you pass on Watson. It's bad enough that the Cavs let Wade walk for taxMLE money.

Merrill has been useless in the playoffs for 2 years minus 3 games which is why I’d prefer strus

Useless feels unnecessarily strong. He shot great in the Detroit series, he just did not get many attempts outside of game 7 where he put up 23 points on elite shooting numbers (70/62.5/100).

He was also the only player who could help free up Mitchell the way the Raptors were defending him. The Merrill ball screens were the only play where a Raptors defender worried about the screener. Otherwise, both defenders went with Mitchell. If fans doubt the aggregate impact numbers, they're available for individual games as well. Merrill had far more games where the Cavs did better with him on the court than without him off the court.

The thing about the playoffs is that players with reliable skills, shooting in Merrill's case or defense in Wade's, remove variance from the equation. If those skill sets result in positive contributions, that's a real asset in the post season and you keep them around for taxMLE money.

[bgrep14]

Merrill has been useless in the playoffs for 2 years minus 3 games which is why I’d prefer strus

Useless feels unnecessarily strong. He shot great in the Detroit series, he just did not get many attempts outside of game 7 where he put up 23 points on elite shooting numbers (70/62.5/100).

He was also the only player who could help free up Mitchell the way the Raptors were defending him. The Merrill ball screens were the only play where a Raptors defender worried about the screener. Otherwise, both defenders went with Mitchell. If fans doubt the aggregate impact numbers, they're available for individual games as well. Merrill had far more games where the Cavs did better with him on the court than without him off the court.

The thing about the playoffs is that players with reliable skills, shooting in Merrill's case or defense in Wade's, remove variance from the equation. If those skill sets result in positive contributions, that's a real asset in the post season and you keep them around for taxMLE money.

Disagree, I think Strus was more valuable in that same role than Merrill. I also didn't like how Atkinson played Strus and Merrill together throughout the playoffs their skillset is relatively redundant and neither handles the ball well which led to continuous turnovers. Strus is just bigger, more athletic, more versatile, and just a better player imo. I'd rather keep him, hope he signs for Merrill level next year or less and have a better shot at winning or just let him walk and have the cap we'll need given the Mitchell and Mobley contracts.

[jbk1234]

Useless feels unnecessarily strong. He shot great in the Detroit series, he just did not get many attempts outside of game 7 where he put up 23 points on elite shooting numbers (70/62.5/100).

He was also the only player who could help free up Mitchell the way the Raptors were defending him. The Merrill ball screens were the only play where a Raptors defender worried about the screener. Otherwise, both defenders went with Mitchell. If fans doubt the aggregate impact numbers, they're available for individual games as well. Merrill had far more games where the Cavs did better with him on the court than without him off the court.

The thing about the playoffs is that players with reliable skills, shooting in Merrill's case or defense in Wade's, remove variance from the equation. If those skill sets result in positive contributions, that's a real asset in the post season and you keep them around for taxMLE money.

Disagree, I think Strus was more valuable in that same role than Merrill. I also didn't like how Atkinson played Strus and Merrill together throughout the playoffs their skillset is relatively redundant and neither handles the ball well which led to continuous turnovers. Strus is just bigger, more athletic, more versatile, and just a better player imo. I'd rather keep him, hope he signs for Merrill level next year or less and have a better shot at winning or just let him walk and have the cap we'll need given the Mitchell and Mobley contracts.

They don't play the same role and teams are willing to help off Strus until he gets it going from outside. The Cavs were worse with Strus on the court than Merrill last run and that's not debatable. It's not a reality that's tied to opinion. Strus had a negative impact across the 18 game sample size. Now, if you think that Strus being a summer removed from his Jones surgery recovery gets his defense back to where it was, don't trade either of them. Wait for the Hawks to release Kuminga's Bird rights and sign him with exception money. Maybe stretch-waive Mann to get him a little more exception money.

You have to at least believe Watson will be a better option than Strus to trade for Watson. If you don't, don't make the trade at all.