CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs’ championship window comes with a hefty financial reality. As one of just three projected second apron teams alongside Boston and Phoenix, difficult decisions loom for the front office.
According to the latest Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Isaac Okoro has emerged as the prime candidate for a potential salary-dump trade this offseason.
Chris Fedor didn’t dance around the issue when discussing Okoro’s future with the team: “Not to say that they’re desperate to do so, but one thing that the Cavs would prefer to do is find a taker for Isaac Okoro’s contract.”
The rationale is straightforward — Okoro’s role and production don’t align with his salary for a team with championship aspirations.
Fedor highlighted this disconnect in stark terms: “Isaac Okoro plays 19 minutes a game and he can’t consistently get on the floor in the playoffs. And this is a team that has championship aspirations... At 11, $12 million, this team can’t afford that.”
This isn’t merely about pinching pennies.
With massive contracts already committed to Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, every complementary piece must provide value proportional to their salary cap hit.
For a defensive specialist who struggles to stay on the floor in crucial playoff moments, the math simply doesn’t work.
The Cavaliers’ potential interest in re-signing both Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill adds further financial pressure. As their combined cost would push Cleveland deeper into luxury tax territory without corresponding roster movement.
However, trading Okoro won’t be straightforward.
As a former lottery pick still valued for his defensive prowess, he’s not without merit. But as a salary dump candidate, the Cavaliers might need to sweeten any deal.
“If that’s looked at by another team around the NBA as a ‘salary dump’ they’re going to say attach something to him — attach Jaylon Tyson to him or a team is going to say, attach multiple second round picks to Isaac Okoro.”
Dean Wade was also mentioned as a potential trade candidate, despite his versatility and defensive impact.
“I’ve had multiple people around the NBA bring him up to me over the last 48 hours,” Fedor revealed. “I think his impact, I think it’s felt on this team. ... But when you get into a situation like the Cavs are, you have to make decisions and sometimes subtractions that are going to be painful.”
Jimmy Watkins raised legitimate concerns about the defensive implications of moving either player: “We spent so much time this year talking about how the Cavs still believe they’re a defense first team and now it’s summertime and trading Isaac and/or Dean ... would really test this theory that Evan Mobley is the ultimate eraser or Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley is the cheat code on defense.”
The painful reality of contention in the modern NBA is that financial constraints force difficult decisions, and in the Cavs’ situation only few members of the roster could be safe from being moved.
“If you’re not named Donovan Mitchell or Evan Mobley, I don’t know that you should be overly comfortable given the Cavs salary cap situation,” Fedor stated. “Given the fact that they flamed out in the second round. Given the urgency to compete for a championship based on a window that has been placed on this team because of the new CBA.”
With Gilbert’s willingness to pay luxury tax for a contender, the Cavaliers aren’t simply looking to cut costs — they’re trying to optimize their spending for championship contention. In that equation, Okoro’s value-to-cost ratio makes him the most logical candidate for movement.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
_Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions._