3 Remaining NBA Free Agents the Cavaliers Should Consider Signing

NBA free agency has officially started and many top players are on the verge of leaving the NBA. Perhaps the most notable so far is Paul George’s departure from his hometown. Los Angeles Clippers come back East and team up with Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s just the latest move by an Eastern Conference team to try to win against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics.

Now it’s the Riders are looking to catch up a little. As it stands, Cleveland is projected to be approximately $17 million over the NBA’s salary cap, limiting its ability to sign high-profile free agents. What they have available to them as a team that has yet to reach the league’s $170.8 million luxury tax is a mid-level exception in its own right, non-taxpayer.

That gives Wine and Gold just over $12.8 million that they can use to sign free agents. They can either use the entire mid-level exception value on one player or split it to use on multiple players.

Cleveland is certainly limited in what it can do right now, but here are three players it could pursue in free agency:

It’s no secret that the Cavs need shooters who can help space the floor around Donovan Mitchell and Hield represents one of the best options still on the market. Splitting time between the Pacers and 76ers last year, Hield averaged 12.1 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the floor and just under 39 percent from three.

Hield is usually at his best when rushing around flashing off-ball screens around the arc for a three-way catch and shoot. That’s a skill set the Cavaliers could definitely benefit from. The biggest issue with Hield is whether or not they would be able to lure him to Cleveland using the mid-level exception. It’s likely he could get more money from a team with real cap space to use.

Bey is a name that has been associated with the Cavaliers on several occasions over the last year. His stats aren’t going to wow anyone, he only shot 41% from the field and a dismal 31% from three point range last year with the Hawks. But he was much better in his first year with Atlanta after being traded there at the 2023 trade deadline.

Unfortunately, Bey tore his ACL late in the season, which will likely leave him sidelined for the start of the 2024-25 season. At times, he showed offensive promise, including attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. His three-point shooting could definitely be improved. That said, he’s only 25 years old and new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s presence in Cleveland could help him get to the next level, if the team is willing to be patient while waiting for a result.

Harris isn’t necessarily a “sexy” name, but he’s a solid option to help space the floor as a shooting guard alongside Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland at any given time. Cavs fans should be familiar with his game having seen him throughout the first-round playoff series with Orlando, considering he missed time with a hamstring injury. Overall, he’s carved out a nice role for himself in this league as a solid, non-elite two-way player.

Harris is a fairly streaky shooter from three, but like Max Strus, he is flammable at times. He is particularly effective in transition, creating turnovers and finishing on the other end or knocking down a transition three. In his three and a half years with the Magic, he shot 42 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three. Harris doesn’t make the Cavs instant title contenders or anything. But he adds another scoring option on the wings, which can’t hurt.