The Cleveland Cavaliers had a terrific 2024-25 regular season, going 64-18 to secure the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
In the first round of the 2025 playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Miami Heat, setting up a clash with the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals.
The Pacers won Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, but the Cavaliers responded by winning Game 3 in Indiana and some thought the series would shift.
However, Cleveland lost Games 4 and 5, going home in the second round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Cavaliers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 conference semifinals.
Cleveland is projected to have $219 million in salary for the 2025-26 season and be over the second apron after Evan Mobley won the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Cleveland Cavaliers players Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome and Dean Wade
Cleveland Cavaliers players Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome and Dean Wade
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Mobley signed a five-year, $224 million extension with Cleveland last summer. The big man winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award triggered a clause in his contract that calls for him to increase the first-year salary of his rookie-scale extension from 25 to 30% of the salary cap.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN wrote on Sunday that the Cavaliers are now in danger of losing Ty Jerome and/or Sam Merrill this offseason.
Jerome and Merrill become unrestricted free agents this offseason.
"The Cavs are entering the second apron next season with two valued bench players, Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill, headed to unrestricted free agency," Windhorst wrote. "They are in danger of losing one or both -- and could face having to trade another player to re-sign them, even though team president Koby Altman said last week that team ownership has given him the green light to spend to keep the team together."
Jerome averaged 12.5 points for the Cavaliers this season in 70 games, while Merrill averaged 7.2 points in 71 games.