By Luke Adams | at July 30, 2026 1:52 pm
There’s no concern in Cleveland that the Cavaliers‘ contract agreement with Mario Hezonja is in any danger of falling apart, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).
Reports out of Spain have indicated that Real Madrid is worried about Hezonja exercising the exit clause in his contract in order to sign an NBA deal, get waived later this year, and then join a EuroLeague rival. However, it doesn’t sound like Cleveland has any plans to let go of the former No. 5 overall pick before opening night, according to Fedor, who says the team envisions Hezonja being part of the “every-night” rotation and view him as important addition after losing Dean Wade in free agency.
After officially signing Hezonja and working out a new deal with James Harden, the Cavs will have 14 players on standard contracts, but they maintain interest in free agent wings like DeMar DeRozan, Jonathan Kuminga, and Peyton Watson, Fedor writes.
Among those potential targets, Watson would be the most difficult for Cleveland to obtain. He’s reportedly seeking a starting salary at least in the $20-25MM range, which would necessitate a sign-and-trade that would hard-cap the Cavs at the first tax apron. Denver is also believed to be seeking a first-round pick and a quality rotation player for Watson, Fedor writes, which may be more than Cleveland is willing to pay.
Kuminga would make more sense as a target if he could be signed using the taxpayer mid-level exception, but he’s reportedly seeking a salary in the $15-20MM range, which would also likely require a sign-and-trade. The Hawks don’t currently have room below the first apron to take back a player like Max Strus or Dennis Schröder for Kuminga, and while one of those players could theoretically be sent to a third team, the Cavs view Strus and Schröder as potential rotation contributors and aren’t looking to attach assets to move off either of them, per Fedor.
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
While LeBron James is ostensibly filling the power forward hole in the Sixers‘ starting lineup, the expectation is that he’ll spend a “good amount of time” at the point guard position, initiating the offense and setting up teammates, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during an NBA Today appearance earlier this week (Twitter video link). Tyrese Maxey, who was Philadelphia’s point guard last season and set a career high with 6.6 assists per game, figures to continue to shoulder some ball-handling and play-making responsibilities, but the plan is for him to spend more time off the ball in 2026/27.
The Raptors will hold their training camp this fall in Quebec City and will open their preseason against Miami in Quebec’s Videotron Centre on October 3, as Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca relays (via Twitter). The Raptors will also play a preseason game in Vancouver on Oct. 10 (vs. the Clippers) before returning to Toronto to host the Knicks on Oct. 13. They’ll wrap up their preseason schedule by visiting New York (Oct. 15) and Detroit (Oct. 16).
Given how loaded the rest of the Atlantic Division has become, C.J. Holmes of The New York Daily News wonders how much longer the Nets can keep selling their fans on patience and whether Sean Marks‘ rebuilding plan will ultimately pay off.
View Comments (0)