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The 2024-25 season was going according to plan for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They established themselves firmly as one of the best teams in the league, winning 64 games in the regular season, and it looked as though they were going to achieve big things in the playoffs for the first time in the post-LeBron James era. Instead, they flamed out in spectacular fashion against the Indiana Pacers.
Many thought whether or not it'd be best for the Cavs to simply start over and give up on their core four. However, it doesn't look as though Cleveland has any intentions of doing that. They are running it back instead, hoping for some better luck and better health come postseason time especially now that the Eastern Conference is wide-open.
The Cavs are wedded to their core, as they are one of a few teams that are currently in the second apron. There is an urgency for them to win and win big, seeing as the tax penalties are only about to become harsher with each passing year they stay in that certain apron level.
But being in the second apron also restricted what they can do in free agency, limiting them to a few moves and making them pick their poison on some of their decisions.
With that said, here are grades for the Cavs' few signings of free agency.
Cavs prioritize Sam Merrill over Ty Jerome
The acquisition of Lonzo Ball in a trade that required the Cavs to give up Isaac Okoro was basically the writing on the wall for Ty Jerome in Cleveland. Jerome was a huge developmental success for Cleveland, blossoming into a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate after landing on the team and barely playing during the 2023-24 campaign.
Jerome had so many brilliant moments, with his offensive capabilities being unlocked by the freedom he got playing in head coach Kenny Atkinson's system. He averaged 12.5 points on 52/44/87 shooting splits last season while playing just 19.2 minutes a night. That is the kind of instant offense that any teams would want on their roster.
Alas, the Cavs' abrupt playoff exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers showed that their glaring weakness remains their poor perimeter defense. Jerome, for all of his offensive capabilities, was not a very good defender. The Pacers targeted his struggles with defending in space, and on a team that's already led by two smaller guards (Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland), the Cavs cannot afford to have yet another weak link on the defensive end.
This certainly played into their decision to re-sign Sam Merrill instead on a four-year, $38 million contract. At the end of the day, the Cavs ponied up more money and committed for more years to Merrill than what Jerome ended up getting — a three-year, $28 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Merrill is also a smaller guard, and at 6'4″, he is not someone whom the Cavs should expect to log plenty, if any, crunch-time minutes. The Cavs will roll with Mitchell and Garland for as often as they could, and Merrill is not someone Cleveland will trot out at the three.
He does compete on defense and can put pressure on opposing ballhandlers much better than Jerome is able to, but his size will make it difficult for him anyway to be an impact player in the Cavs' most important lineups.
Be that as it may, the Cavs are tilting the balance of their roster more towards the defensive side of the ball after being the best offensive team in the league last season according to offensive rating. Even with Jerome gone, the Cavs should still put up plenty of points on the board, especially now that they'll have a full season of De'Andre Hunter.
Signing Merrill was the correct choice, although the Cavs have to be wondering if they could have signed him to a lower-value deal.
Grade: B-
Larry Nance Jr. heads back to Cleveland
Larry Nance Jr. is a beloved member of the locker room wherever he goes. He is one of the most fun guys to be around in the association, and he always seems to bring joy to whichever team he plays for. But the Cavs know that his impact can still go beyond the intangibles he provides.
Nance is still an efficient lob threat, a fairly mobile perimeter defender for a big man, and he has active hands on defense. And to top it all off, he shot 44.7 percent from deep last year on 3.2 attempts per contest.
For a backup big man on a veteran minimum, it's hard to do much better than Nance.
Grade: A
