Summer League is over for the Cleveland Cavaliers and there is a chance that the team uses their last roster spot on one of the players who played in the league. The Cavaliers have 14 players on their roster at the moment and it is unlikely that filling the last spot could make them much better than they already are. Therefore, it won't be surprising if they keep it open.
This summer hasn't gone well for the 2016 NBA champions and it all started when the team let David Griffin, their general manager, go. Instead of extending his contract, which is something that LeBron James wanted, the Cavaliers let Griffin walk away.
As a consequence, they are not having a good offseason and the team hasn't improved at all.
Many Cavaliers fans expected their team to pull some big moves this summer, but the offseason is getting worse with every day. The Cavaliers simply do not have a lot of options and they are well above salary cap. Because of this, it will be hard to improve the roster and to be a serious threat to the Golden State Warriors next year.
Cleveland Cavaliers' options
Considering that Cleveland is above salary cap, they only have three options to fill that last roster spot. The irst option would be using their mid-level exception to sign another player as they have $2.4 million left of it. The second option is giving a veteran's minimum contract to a free agent, and the third option would be pulling a multi-player trade that would fill the last spot.
The Cavaliers have a $4.8 million trade exception they could use in a possible trade. It is not a secret that they want to trade for Carmelo Anthony, but it seems that the New York Knicks have changed their mind and they want to keep Anthony on the team. If the Cavaliers, however, manage to get the 33-year-old small forward out of New York, they will most likely have to give up Kevin Love, which probably wouldn't be a smart move.
Free agents the Cavs could sign
Derrick Williams and James Jones are now free agents as their contracts with the Cavaliers expired this offseason. While there has been some talk about bringing Williams back, the Cavaliers might let him test free agency and sign with another team. On the other side, Jones will most likely retire.
When it comes to other free agents, there are some good options for the Cavaliers, such as Derrick Rose, Shabazz Muhammad and Tony Allen. However, it is unlikely that these players would accept a cheap contract as they can get much more money somewhere else.
