Maximizing the Cavaliers' Remaining Window - 2026 Offseason Preview
On the Cavaliers' offseason, extension decisions for all their top free agents, how they'll likely get under the second apron, and why they're looking at a two-year window before evaluating things.
Perhaps no two teams entered the 2025-26 season with more pressure than the Knicks and Cavaliers. The Eastern Conference was weaker than usual due to various injuries to contenders and a tanking crisis. Internally, making the Eastern Conference Finals was a minimum requirement. Both teams stumbled at various points throughout the season, but they ultimately got where they were expected to go.
On the one hand, the Cavaliers progressed further than they ever had with this group. On the other hand, the journey didn’t look pretty. Inconsistency dragged their first two series longer than they needed to be. This is especially disappointing considering they had no major injuries. For a team as talented as they are, this playoff run raised more questions than answers.
The Cavaliers will march forward with their group and are expected to for multiple years. They will look to make marginal upgrades to the roster but will face challenges in doing so due to apron restrictions and a lack of tradeable assets. These next two years will be critical and perhaps their only remaining chances to win a championship before the rising costs to maintain this roster complicate it.
2026 Offseason Previews
Atlanta Hawks | Boston Celtics | Brooklyn Nets | Charlotte Hornets | Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | Dallas Mavericks | Denver Nuggets | Detroit Pistons | Golden State Warriors | Houston Rockets | Indiana Pacers | Los Angeles Clippers | Los Angeles Lakers
2026 Contract Projections
Current Extension Eligible Players Part 1 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 2 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 3 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 4 | Standout Minimum Players | Free Agents and Pending Options Part 1 | Free Agents and Pending Options Part 2
Salary cap situation and draft picks
The Cavaliers are entering the offseason with 12 players under contract, totaling $224.7 million in salary. They’re currently set to operate above the luxury tax line, the first apron, and the second apron. They’re just $3.4 million above the $221.7 million second apron, but effectively $8.3 million above it once accounting for the two remaining roster spots they still need to fill, at least at the $2.5 million veteran minimum.
Although they’re currently above the second apron, their payroll situation is fluid. James Harden has a $42.3 million player option that he is expected to decline and then re-sign with the Cavaliers on a longer deal with a lower annual salary. It’s unclear what that deal will look like, but the savings should be enough for them to field a roster below the second apron.
The Cavaliers operated as a second apron team last season. They couldn’t aggregate salaries or take back more salary than they sent out in a trade, sign-and-trade for free agents, use any form of the mid-level exception, or send cash in trades. They were limited to re-signing their own free agents, signing draft picks, and making minimum signings.
They were one of the more active teams on the trade market and made several deals that significantly reduced their payroll and luxury tax penalty. Despite those efforts, they still finished just over the second apron. As a result, their 2033 first-round pick is frozen, meaning it cannot be traded. It could eventually become unfrozen if they remain out of the second apron for multiple seasons.
The Cavaliers seem unlikely to exceed the second apron again this upcoming season. Doing so would freeze their 2034 first-round pick. If they do it again for a third straight year, that 2033 first-round pick would fall to the end of the first round. They would ideally like to avoid that, along with any further frozen picks. They’re already severely limited in the number of draft picks they can trade.
Staying under the second apron would impose fewer team-building restrictions on the Cavaliers. As an above-first-apron and below-second-apron team, they still couldn’t sign-and-trade for free agents, but they could sign-and-trade their own free agents to acquire players already under contract. They could also trade cash and would have access to the $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception.
The most significant resource they would regain is the ability to aggregate salaries in a trade while taking back 100 percent or less of their outgoing salary. This would allow them to trade for just about any player. They could, hypothetically, trade Evan Mobley and additional salaries for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It would also allow them to trade for a player earning $30 million or more without including Mitchell, Mobley, or Harden.
