The NBA draft is tonight, and the Cleveland Cavaliers currently hold the 29th pick. The options for the team seem to be vast as they look to navigate not only the prospect pool but the salary cap. According to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, the team is putting all options on the table.
Fedor describes that the Cavaliers at this point are “currently exploring the possibility of moving out of the late first round”. It appears the team not only could move out of the first round, but possibly the entire
2026 draft.
According to Fedor, it also appears that the current estimated pool of players available at 29 don’t excite the Cavaliers. However, “if the Cavs view a group of prospects on the same talent tier, they could move back, still get one, save money and possibly add more draft capital, either this year or in a future draft.”
Some players that have been linked to the Cavaliers that could be tied to this player pool are Zuby Ejiofor (St. Johns), Alex Karaban (UCONN), Tarris Reed Jr (UCONN), Henri Veesaar (UNC), and Jaden Bradley (Alabama).
Another option floated in the article is that the first could be used as a sweetener to take a big salary to shed some cap. Attaching the first rounder with someone like Dennis Schroder would be the most likely avenue to avoid having to pay Schroder his remaining $31 million over two years.
The Cavaliers would be best to trade the pick with Schroder to shed his massive cap hit. As Dean Wade is generating interest around the league, it’ll be better for the team in the short term to get off the Schroder cap number.
While draft picks are the exciting asset to have, for the unknown of what the player could become, the Cavaliers have shorter timelines not suited for developing a project, which is likely what they will get with the 29th selection or picks in the second round.
To demonstrate this, look at the Cavaliers’ most recent first-round draft pick. Jaylon Tyson was selected with the 20th pick in 2024 and just started to crack the regular rotation a year later than he was drafted.
While this class is considered to be deep, the talent once you hit the 20s always comes down to team preference over talent level. Unless the Cavaliers have someone on their big board who magically falls to them, it seems more than likely that they will not retain the player drafted tonight.
