Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2026 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Free agent signings
James Harden: Three years, $96,540,000. Third-year player option. Includes trade kicker (15%). Re-signed using Non-Bird rights.
Peyton Watson: Four years, $88,000,000. Fourth-year player option. Includes trade kicker (7.5%). Acquired from Nuggets via sign-and-trade using salary matching.
Thomas Bryant: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Mario Hezonja: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trades
Acquired the No. 34 pick in the 2026 draft and the Kings’ 2032 second-round pick from the Kings in exchange for the draft rights to Alex Karaban (No. 29 pick).
Acquired Peyton Watson (via sign-and-trade) and the draft rights to Ismael Kamagate from the Nuggets and Cam Whitmore from the Wizards in a five-team trade in exchange for Max Strus (to Clippers), Dennis Schröder (to Hornets), the Cavaliers’ 2031 first-round pick (to Nuggets), the Kings’ 2032 second-round pick (to Nuggets), and cash ($4.35MM to Hornets; $3MM to Wizards).
Draft picks
2-34: Meleek Thomas
Signed to four-year, $9,264,648 contract using second-round pick exception. First three years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
Two-way signings
Ernest Udeh Jr.
One year, $91,000 partial guarantee.
Note: The Cavaliers carried over Tristan Enaruna and Riley Minix on two-way contracts from 2025/26.
Departed/unsigned free agents
Keon Ellis (Nets)
Larry Nance Jr. (Pacers)
Olivier Sarr (Real Madrid – Spain)
Dean Wade (Sixers)
Other roster moves
Signed Donovan Mitchell to a four-year, maximum-salary veteran contract extension that begins in 2027/28. Fourth-year player option. Trade kicker (15%). Projected value of $275,968,000.
Signed 2022 second-round pick Khalifa Diop to a four-year, $9,264,648 contract using the second-round pick exception. Second year and third years non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
Exercised team option on Craig Porter Jr. ($2,406,205; non-guaranteed).
Waived Cam Whitmore ($5,458,310 salary stretched across three seasons).
Salary cap situation
Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
Operating over the cap ($165MM) and below the first tax apron ($209MM).
Hard-capped at first apron.
Team salary: $209MM (tax/apron).
Above luxury tax line by $8.5MM; below hard cap by $45K.
Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($15MM) and full bi-annual exception ($5.5MM) available.
Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $16.7MM).
The offseason so far
Was the Cavaliers’ 2025/26 season a success?
Cleveland had the league’s highest payroll and was viewed as one of the favorites to come out of the East after winning 64 games a year earlier, but the team had an up-and-down year that saw the front office trade away homegrown star point guard Darius Garland, who was battling ongoing toe problems.
After acquiring James Harden from the Clippers in the blockbuster deal for Garland, the Cavaliers continued to struggle to consistently find their peak form. In the playoffs, they needed seven games to get past Toronto in round one and another seven to knock off the Pistons in round two before falling to the Knicks in a four-game sweep in round three.
Still, simply advancing to the Eastern Conference finals represented a major step forward for the Cavaliers, who hadn’t been that deep in the postseason without LeBron James on their roster since 1992. In that regard, the season was a success for the franchise, and the club’s offseason moves reflected that belief. While it’s clear that ownership didn’t want to continue paying the league’s largest luxury tax bill after falling short of the NBA Finals, Cleveland kept its core together with an eye toward trying to make another run at a title in 2026/27.
With Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen already under contract for multiple seasons beyond 2026/27, the Cavaliers’ efforts to lock up their cornerstone players this summer focused on the backcourt.
Donovan Mitchell signed the most lucrative contract of the NBA offseason, finalizing a four-year, maximum-salary extension that will begin in 2027/28 and currently projects to be worth about $276MM. While there had been some speculation that Mitchell might seek a change of scenery if the Cavs couldn’t get over the hump, he quieted those whispers by signing an extension for the second time in three years, putting him on track to spend the rest of his prime in Cleveland.
Harden didn’t officially sign his new three-year, $96.5MM contract until September 8, a full two months after the Cavs announced Mitchell’s deal. But that delay was due to Harden’s willingness to help the team accommodate other moves rather than any sort of contentious negotiation process. His decision to turn down a $42MM+ player option in June in order to sign a multiyear contract with a smaller starting salary allowed the team avoid the second apron, pursue LeBron James, and ultimately land Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with Denver.
The Cavaliers have been on the lookout for years for a reliable small forward to play alongside their core of Mitchell, Harden (previously Garland), Mobley, and Allen. Watson looks like the best bet yet to establish himself as that guy. On the heels of a breakout year in Denver that included averages of 14.5 PPG and 4.9 RPG and a shooting line of .491/.411/.730, the 24-year-old wing received a four-year, $88MM contract from Cleveland, ensuring that all five members of the projected starting lineup are on multiyear deals.
While the Cavs can feel good about their new agreements with Harden and Watson, the depth took a major hit this summer as the front office reduced the team’s salary from above the second tax apron to below the first apron. Max Strus and Dennis Schröder were sent to the Clippers and Hornets, respectively, as part of the Watson sign-and-trade deal, Dean Wade departed in free agency for the Sixers, Keon Ellis joined the Nets, and Larry Nance Jr. signed with the Pacers.
With the exception of Watson, the Cavaliers’ offseason roster additions were relatively modest. Croatian forward Mario Hezonja, who had been playing in Europe since 2021, signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract, while No. 34 pick Meleek Thomas and 2022 second-rounder Khalifa Diop joined the roster on multiyear rookie-minimum deals.
Hezonja, the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, has been a standout in the EuroLeague for several years, and Thomas made a terrific first impression at the Las Vegas Summer League in July, averaging 27.2 points per game and earning a spot on the All-Summer-League first team. It’s possible one or both will emerge as reliable rotation players.
Still, the Cavs will be relying heavily on incumbent reserves like Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill to step up and provide consistent, productive minutes off the bench this season behind what looks like a very strong starting five.
Up next
After completing their offseason business, the Cavaliers don’t exactly have a lot of flexibility to continue making moves. With 14 players on standard contracts, they’re operating a mere $45K from their first-apron hard cap, which means that if they don’t shed salary between now and the end of the season, they won’t be able to sign a 15th man until April 9.
Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean Cleveland is locked into the current group. Preseason or in-season trades are always a possibility, and Hezonja’s contract structure gives the club some flexibility with his roster spot. His salary will remain non-guaranteed until November 15, so the Cavs could replace him with another minimum-salary player if they don’t like what they see in the preseason.
If Hezonja makes the opening-night roster, he should be a safe bet to stick around. The reimbursement teams get from the NBA on a one-year, minimum-salary contract goes away if the player is waived before his salary becomes guaranteed, which would be a complicating factor for a Cavs team operating so close to its hard cap (essentially, his per-day cap hit would increase by $2,279 if he’s cut between October 18 and January 7). In other words, if Cleveland is going to replace Hezonja, it will likely happen in the next month or so.
If the Cavs do stick with their current 14 players and don’t reassign any of their two-way contacts – which are currently held by Tristan Enaruna, Riley Minix, and Ernest Udeh Jr. – it will likely be a pretty quiet preseason in Cleveland.
The Cavs’ only extension-eligible player is Craig Porter Jr., and while it’s not out of the question that he’ll sign a new contract sooner rather than later after averaging a career-high 17.9 minutes per game last season, the front office probably won’t be in any rush to add more guaranteed money to its books for 2027/28 and beyond.
For what it’s worth, Porter is also on a non-guaranteed contract for now, giving the Cavs some options with his roster spot too. But I don’t consider him a candidate to be cut after he played rotation minutes in 2025/26.