The long summer of the Cleveland Cavaliers being rumored to be interested in a free-agent small forward, just for nothing to actually happen, continues. First, it was the endless speculation about LeBron James returning. Then, there were rumors about a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade. Now, we’ve moved on to speculating whether 23-year-old, 6’8” wing Peyton Watson could be coming to Cleveland.
The Cavs remain one of the handful of teams continually linked to Watson. Marc Stein’s latest report reaffirms
this. Stein notes that the Cavs are a “team to watch” with Watson and that the Cavs have been looking to send out Dennis Schroder and Max Strus to make a deal like that work.
Watson is a restricted free agent. The Cavs don’t have cap space to make a significant offer in free agency. However, since they are currently below the first apron, they can execute a sign-and-trade.
A sign-and-trade essentially allows them to sign Watson to a deal, and then trade away players and their salary to the team Watson is a restricted free agent with (the Denver Nuggets) or to an additional team(s) to make the financials work. There’s a lot of cap minutia you can dive into if you want, but the basic thing to know is that the Cavs would have to trade other players away to make a deal for Watson or Kuminga work.
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Schroder and Strus are the two candidates to move in any sign-and-trade.
Strus has been an incredibly useful player for the Cavs over the last three seasons, but he and Sam Merrill essentially occupy the same on-court role and position. Considering Merrill is making $7.5 million less next season in a salary cap sport, it makes sense to move Strus. This upcoming season is the last year Strus is under contract.
Schroder is making $14.8 million this upcoming season and $15.5 the following. However, his contract is only guaranteed for $4.35 million for the 2027-28 season, so he could easily be waived after this season without a large cap hit. That potentially makes him an attractive target for a team looking to clear space off their books.
The issue with the Watson situation is the fact that the Nuggets are the only team in the dreaded second apron. They presumably don’t want to clog their books with even the expiring contracts the Cavs have to offer. As such, a third or maybe even a fourth team is needed to absorb those contracts to make it work.
Stein notes that this is where the Cavs have had issues finding a landing spot for either or both is “easier said than done” at this point in the summer. It’s also worth pointing out that this is something that they’ve been reportedly looking to do since the end of June. If there was a lot of interest around either Strus or Schroder, you’d believe a deal would’ve already happened.
Stein also points out that the Cavs could be looking to make Watson a four-year deal. The length and potential dollar amount associated with that deal could be a risk.
Watson is the archetype you want to take a risk on. There aren’t many young, athletic wings with high upside to gamble on — however, it’s worth pointing out that it would still be a gamble.
Watson has only had one season where he’s averaged double-digit points per game. The outside shot has been streaky, and he isn’t much of a facilitator offensively when he isn’t scoring the ball. An overwhelming majority of his makes throughout his career have been assisted, which points to him not being someone who can create his own shot. Watson has mostly been an offensive finisher. And if he came to Cleveland, he wouldn’t be playing with someone as skilled as Nikola Jokic at creating open looks for teammates.
Still, this is a risk worth pursuing.
The Cavs aren’t the only team vying for Watson’s services. Stein wrote that the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks are both trying to make a deal work for Watson. There’s also the possibility that Watson chooses to return to Denver on a qualifying offer of $6.5 million next season, which would allow him to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Cleveland has been looking for a permanent answer at small forward for the better part of the last eight seasons. Watson has the potential to be that answer, but getting a deal done could be both complicated and risky. We’ll see if the Cavs can find enough partners to make a deal for Watson work for all parties.
Last season, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on .491/.411/.730 shooting splits in 54 games with Denver.
