Cavaliers’ silence in NBA free agency isn’t surprising at all

The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the offseason without much wiggle room in terms of their financial situation. If they were going to legitimately improve, they were going to have to get creative.

That’s why it’s not at all surprising to see the Cavaliers remain essentially on the sidelines as NBA free agency begins.

The free agent period began Sunday night and Cleveland remained relatively quiet. There have been a few rumors regarding the Cavs, but nothing concrete. Instead, the Cavaliers saw some of their top Eastern Conference competitors add key pieces.

But should Cleveland fans panic? Not really.

Again, this was expected. The Cavs have very little money to give to free agents, and they are understandably more concerned with extending Donovan Mitchell than signing other players.

This is not to say that the Cavaliers should stay entirely in their place. They TO DO he needs to make a move or two, whether through a trade, a shrewd free agent signing, or both.

The New York Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges. The Philadelphia 76ers signed Paul George. The Orlando Magic landed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

These are the teams Cleveland is competing with in the Eastern Conference, and they’re all getting better.

The Cavs won 48 games and finished in 4th place in the Eastern Conference last season. They managed to defeat the Magic in a close seven-game series in the first round before losing to the Boston Celtics in five games. No one expects the Cavaliers to beat the Celtics next year, but Orlando was on par with Cleveland last season.

Now the Cavs have to worry about a young, promising team like the Magic overtaking them (remember, Orlando just finished one game behind the Cavaliers in the standings). But unlike the Cavaliers, the Magic actually had the cap space to make a significant addition. So did the 76ers.

The Knicks, for their part, did what Cleveland should have done: they innovated. New York had to worry about re-signing OG Anunoby (which they did) and still has to worry about retaining Isaiah Hartenstein. But that didn’t stop the Knicks from making a major trade for Bridges.

Of course, the question is what the Cavs can actually do. They don’t exactly have a treasure trove of assets, and any truly game-changing trade they could make would likely involve moving one of their big four, which they don’t want to do.

Not only that, but Brandon Ingram – who has been mentioned as a potential trade target for the Cavaliers – is entering the final year of his contract and wants a max contract. Cleveland is reluctant to give him that, which could mean the New Orleans Pelicans end up sending Ingram elsewhere (and the Sacramento Kings are obviously interested).

The Cavaliers are currently stuck between a rock and a hard place. They obviously want to make some changes to better position themselves for a deeper playoff run next spring, but they don’t want to break their core. Additionally, Isaac Okoro is a restricted free agent. Yes, Cleveland can match any offer, but that’s just money the Cavs will have to spend to keep one of their own guys.

We knew it wasn’t going to be easy for the Cavaliers this summer. Maybe it’s just maintenance more than anything else. Perhaps the best thing Cleveland can hope for is improvement from young players like Evan Mobley and Darius Garland.

There are certainly still low-cost options available. Cleveland has already been encouraged to pursue Indiana Pacers free agent Jalen Smith, for example. But there’s no doubt that the free agent pool is starting to dry up, and it wasn’t that rich to begin with.

We’ll see what the Cavs have up their sleeves