Sam Merrill Is RETURNING! The Cavaliers Are Signing Sam Merrill To Four-Year, $38 Million Deal!

Sam Merrill Is RETURNING! The Cavaliers Are Signing Sam Merrill To Four-Year, $38 Million Deal!

[Music] every video and episode of the Its Cavalere podcast is made possible by my supporters over on Patreon if you enjoy the show here today consider signing up you’ll get early access exclusive videos podcast member shoutouts and more and as always thank you for watching [Music] [Applause] [Music] i just knew today was going to be a busy day i just had that feeling man and when that Lonzo bill uh Lonzo deal dropped I was ecstatic jumping from the rooftops jumping for joy and whatnot almost almost fell down but uh this is just another another cherry on top I suppose i ain’t going to lie i ain’t going to lie i woke up this morning feeling the complete opposite right i thought that Ty Jerome was going to be returning and that Sam Merrill would probably be the one departing considering that you probably value what Tai brings to the table more than what you do for Merryill especially after the drafting of Tyrese Proctor so I I was of the mindset that Sam was probably likely to be gone because you’re going to elevate some of the younger pieces on the roster but after the Lonzo deal this makes a lot of sense and mind you again we don’t really know what’s going on with Ty Jerome he still theoretically could resign and if you do resign Ty Jerome at that point you’re really cooking with Greece right your back court is really really solidified at that point because at that point you be talking about Don DG Tai Lonzo and Craig Porter Jr uh as your options in the back court so there there are a lot of different options here but I’ll tell you one thing this is not a bad move at all you look at what they retained him for I think it’s really good value considering what he brings to the table uh you know there are there are a lot of people that believe Sam Merrell is just a three-point shotmaker but that is far from the truth he signed a 4-year $38 million deal that uh will help keep him in Cleveland at least for the time being i don’t think he’ll survive the full length of this contract but I tell you what getting him on good value that ain’t bad at all four years $38 million i I I don’t know how you could feel terrible about that uh it just it should not make you feel really bad considering the new CBA whatnot that’s about nine and a half million I believe uh per year so good good move to get him under contract especially after bringing Alonzo so you have solidified your uh I think you have solidified your depth in in that regard and Tyrese Proctor will factor in here eventually but I’m not mad at this at all i just didn’t see it coming especially especially waking up this morning but after the Lonzo deal this makes a lot of sense so for those of you out there that question the motives of Kobe Alman in terms of why would you go ahead and bring Merryill back as opposed to a Tai Drone well I think you kind of just saw it with the uh the Lonzo deal of it all so it makes sense you are theoretically going to lose one of them heading into this off season and now the it’s not set in stone but it’s now starting to point much more in the direction of Tai being gone than Merryill so that’s where I’m at this is good value i think that Merryill over these last two seasons in particular has proven that he is way more than just a shooter and I and I know I keep saying that but I have to kind of hammer it into the the thoughts of people out there because there are so many people that believe that this that’s all that this dude provides when that is that could not be further from the truth he is and has turned into a valuable defender the problem with Sam Merrill is that Kenny Atinson and at times JB before him used him entirely too much as the the small forward right he played in a lot of lineups off that bench as your small forward and honestly we have seen Merryill start games there which is not ideal uh throughout the entirety of the season you can get away with it but I think there was an over reliance on it and that is why a lot of people think that Sam can’t defend when that’s really not the case sam uh in in terms of perimeter defense he was about average he was in the 55th percentile this year per Bball index and perimeter isolation defense but where he really excelled at was his screen navigation navigating screens making sure that he does not lose track of his assignment so he’s really really good at eluding those screens out there he placed within the 93rd percentile in ball screen navigation which was 41st out of 563 total players that uh that that made this ranking and the 100th percentile in terms of offball chaser defense that is number that he was the top player in that category among the 559 total players that made that list that is a measurement of how well a defender lowers shot quality and suppresses attempts on offball screens which is adjusted for the average skill level of the offensive players guarded so Merrill much much more than just a straightup three-point shooter we know that that is his number one skill the movement shooting that Merryill offers you he whether it’s uh whether it’s going around screens and shooting or uh spotting up he’s he’s money right he is always a guy that is going to look to put that up with no hesitation there’s no Dean Wade or Isaac in his game in terms of the confidence out there he will let that thing fly and as a result he’s graded very very highly in numerous categories in terms of perimeter shot making in catch and shoot three-point shooting talent he graded in the 93rd percentile in efficiency he was the 74th percentile in offball gravity which is important like how much attention are you drawing on the defensive end or on the offensive end rather from the defenders that they know they have to pay attention to you when you are out on you know passing that three-point line do they have to keep an eye on you and I think Sam Merrill obviously checks that box uh and the both the film and the stat sheet tend to uh bear that out he was in the 81st percentile in offball gravity this year and overall gravity was in the 69th percentile so Merrill is a connective piece of tissue not quite the level of a Max Struce uh out there in in that regard but he is somebody that will not be he will not stagnate the ball when he gets it he’ll either look to reroute it he’ll make that extra pass that hockey assist he’ll move around he has very active cutter i I think that he adds much more than just perimeter shot making and to lock that up on you know around nine nine and a half 9.8 mil I think that’s solid i think that’s solid um it again this deal I don’t think it I don’t think it means that you are it’s a foregone conclusion that Ty drone is gone but I do think that uh it it continues to add to the believability that that is where we’re heading here now again this is all going to be up to Dan Gilbert if Dan Gilbert says it I’m going to you know I don’t really care what the second apron stipulations are i’m going to go ahead and pay the tax bill he can still theoretically sign Tai Drone because they do have the bird rights for him but I just don’t see that happening especially after acquiring Lonzo now I’m literally live with you guys right now so there’s all the potential in the world that we could see one of those beautiful Shams notation uh notifications pop up on our screens and let us know that there actually has been some news on Tai Drone as of right now we can only go off of what we have and that is that the Cavaliers already today have signed Sam Merrill to a 4-year $38 million contract and they have acquired Lonzo Ball in exchange for the services of Isaac Auroro so as of right now you have some solutions in place your your off seasonason is nowhere near finished you still have a couple of spots on the roster to fill out you still need to go out and acquire a viable third pick not just a body not just a Tristan Thompson out there you need to acquire a a viable third big we already talked about it during the um during the ball in a coral stream we hope that is a guy like Larry N Jr but it is far from a uh set in stone type of scenario so we’ll see what they end up doing but I think this is good um Merrill for what it’s worth this is good value so who who knows in terms of what Meryill was able to provide Cleveland with this season it was quite up and down on the offensive end in terms of like the efficiency of it all he would round the year out finishing shooting 37.2% on the season from range but uh overall 40.6% and obviously the reason behind that is that the bulk of his shots come from beyond the arc it’s either at the rim while he’s cutting or it is um from the perimeter that is what you are getting from Sam Merrill nine times out of 10 often nothing in between because that’s how the Cavaliers have opted to utilize him and that is perfectly fine because he is not an on ball option as far as I’m concerned is that in his game it was at the collegiate level but in at the NBA level where things are much different and the Cavaliers already roster Darius Garland Donovan Mitchell Evan Moley and a number of other players that can you know handle the rock you’re not looking to give Merryill many on ball touches and I think that’s what makes him so very valuable because he can be effective without the ball in his hands and you need guys like that and you need to get them cheaply and that’s with the Cavaliers in this new look CBA 9 and a half mil or so for a role player like Merryill who’s giving you 19 to 20 minutes per game that’s not bad at all that’s solid value um in terms of the catch and shoot viability from just this past season he shot 38.2% on catch and shoot triples he was 117 of 306 total on catch and shoots he did attempt 62 pull-ups but he was very inefficient in that area shooting just 32.3% but the gravity to me is one of the more important parts or aspects of this the percentages matter you want guys to knock down shots but what matters just as much is having that gravity making sure that the defense does have to pay attention to you so that it opens up the lane for your drivers like Darius Donovan Max etc you want that uh that that that paint area to be unclogged and Merryill is a big proponent of that he adds to the gravity out there in ways that many other players on the roster especially the bench uh just don’t and so that is why you look to retain a because the options available on the veteran minimum market in free agency probably weren’t going to be able to solidly replicate what he adds to the equation now uh Proctor right after the Proctor draft pick I think many people including myself felt like this or that drafting could have signaled the end of the Merryill era but I’m not mad at this not one bit not one bit i would love to see Ty Jerome return just because adds to the stockpile of guards but I just don’t see everybody be coming back i don’t see that being the case we’ve already seen one departure Noro we could see another with Tai but we’ll have to remain patient and see what happens we This is just one of those times of year ladies and gentlemen where you have to be like right by your phone or these notifications will fly right by you and you’ll miss it and I think for me it’s always difficult because you’re wanting you’re wanting to see when these moves are going to happen and then they just they just happen out of nowhere like I don’t think anybody thought that we would see news like this today two big moves these aren’t I don’t consider these necessarily like totally marginal moves because I think the the whole ideal the whole thought process behind this Cap’s off seasonason if they weren’t going to be moving a piece of the core and mind you this it’s still possible for that to occur it is still very possible that Jared Allen or Daryus Garland or somebody else has moved but if it wasn’t going to be one of those core or four players the the key word that everybody was throwing out there and I myself guilty of this is marginal like marginal moves i don’t necessarily consider Lonzo for a Cororo a uh a marginal move i actually think that’s a needle mover and yeah there’s a fair bit of risk that you are um that you’re involving in that but I think it’s a risk worth taking all title runs all title runs have that risk like that that that that luck aspect to them you have to be out there and be willing to take some of those risks so I don’t consider that one a marginal move if you consider the Merill resigning a marginal move I guess I can forgive you depending upon your opinion of what Sam Merrill brings to the table i don’t necessarily consider that a marginal move to me if we’re talking about marginal moves I I would think free agency and some of the veteran minimum like uh additions that you could make or a very very low-level trade just to shed salary so that you could bring in more but this where we at right now and this is not a bad spot because you look at the depth right now and we already had that discussion during the last stream uh but you’re looking at the depth and it looks pretty good on paper it ain’t it it is not a bad place to be in if you are a Cleveland Cavaliers fan considering the state of this Eastern Conference man I love it um it it’s good it’s good now if you’re looking at the sp track of it all in terms of the salary for Merryill which is obviously it’s a pending transaction um for the 2025 26 season this looks like kind of backloaded so they they have it at 8.482 let me see if I can just get this on screen real quick but uh I I think that it is definitely a um definitely worth looking at here so you got Merryill who for the 2025 26 season is going to be making around 8.4 uh 2 mil you have the 2026 27 season that’ll bump up to 9.1 and then 27 and and beyond you’re going to be looking at closer to uh around 10 mil or so that is good value that’s really good value for his contract and you look elsewhere here like now technically you will have uh 13 13 players under contract after all of these transactions are completed because you’re essentially swapping Lonzo for Isaac you got Evan Donovan Darius DeAndre Jarrett Max lonzo let’s just slot him in right there dean Wade Jaylen Tyson uh Chuma has the team option craig Porter Jr are still under contract i’m going to not count Naquin Tomlin because I I don’t factor the two AA’s into like the standardized deals so um and then you will add Sam Merrill back into the equation here so you’ll have 13 players uh 13 players rostered after this if my math is correct so I love it i say all that to say I love it i’m I am right there man it’s 12 to 13 players but I think this is about as good as it gets i don’t know if you guys can see that i think it’s way too small but uh yeah I just saw that that Sorry CJ sorry i I just realized that as I went back over to the screen that that graphic actually was showing incredibly small but yeah it is it it is a scenario in which the depth should be fine so even if you’re just talking about it in terms of your rotation right Darius Garland well let’s let’s go through it with without Darius Garland right now without Darius Garland it is I would assume the Cavaliers will not likely attempt to start Lonzo and this is just my opinion this is pure speculation i honestly hope they don’t try and throw Lonzo out there in the starting lineup i would start Donovan Mitchell Max Strus DeAndre Hunter Evan Mobley Jared Allen that would be the starting five in of the year assuming Darius Grin is not healthy my primary bench rotation of eight to nine players or nine to 10 players would probably be uh something like Lonzo or uh you can you know Lonzo or Craig Porter Jr you’re looking at potentially um Sam Merrill right at Jaylen Tyson being Wade and hopefully the third big which we hope is uh we hope is Larry N Jr and you can sprinkle in some Tyrese Proctor and and Naquin Tomlin when you need to and then when Darius Garland comes back your bench becomes that much better because you can slide Strus back to it and so you have some viable options there now you are losing some offensive firepower um you are losing some offensive firepower if you do lose Tai Jerome that is that cannot be questioned he was one of the best offensive players on the roster one of the most efficient this year so um that’s a big loss but I do believe that you can make up for it and at some point you’re going to have to see what the young talent on the roster can do for you and I think what better way to do that than to start elevating some of these young guys i think that even prior to Lonzo being acquired even prior to Sam being resigned you are probably already going to pencil in Jaylen Tyson being involved in some capacity in that rotation next year you had a real good shot at seeing Naqucoin Tomlin being a potential replacement for Dean Wade at some point now consider Dean Wade is actually on an expiring contract if I’m not mistaken this is his final season and until he hits unrestricted free agency next off season so the Cavaliers I don’t think they’re going to end up resigning him it’s possible that I think what likely happens with Dean is that he has moved midseason same way that we saw Caris be and Jared um not Jared Caris and George be moved in the DeAndre Hunter deal and we already know Caris was on an expiring deal himself during last season around the trade deadline so I think what the likely scenario here is that the Cavaliers they fill out the rest of the roster with capable vets uh maybe one more move or two or maybe one more move in terms of trades but I think they’ll roll into the 2025 26 season with Dean Wade still on the roster and contributing in the early going of the season but also looking to see what can we do to move on from him whether that be elevating an internal option like Tomlin who I think profiles as a four at the NBA level or giving you know using some type of combination of Jaylen Tyson DeAndre Hunter there we’ll see we’ll see what ends up happening but we got better we got better when you make these moves you hope to get better you hope to be on the right side of it and for Cleveland in any Isaac Goro deal one of the things that I was hoping was that it was just not going to be about uh shedding salary which a lot of people were thinking that it could be like we weren’t actually going to get a viable rotation piece back we were just looking to duck the second apron that wasn’t the case we got Lonzo back we did save $1 million in the process with the resigning of Sam Merrill uh you do get another rotation piece back and it’s right not like you went out and had to acquire that with with shelling out additional assets or you had to come out of your pocket deep to do so in the free agent market you had one that was already one of your own free agents so a good move i think it was deserved i think Sam this was his first major payday in the NBA and he worked his ass off for the last two and a half years uh while in Cleveland for those of you who don’t remember I believe Sam Merrill came to Cleveland in March of 2023 I think it was yeah he signed a 10-day contract that is the start for Sam Merryill in Cleveland he signed a 10-day contract on March 3rd of 2023 and then he got his deal converted to a standardized deal to remain with Cleveland a multi-year contract if I’m not mistaken and the rest is history he took advantage of the opportunities that were afforded to him during the 2023 24 season where we saw a lot of uh missed games from the combo of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland and he benefited from that last season he put up a career well the 2023 24 season he put up a career best eight points he shot 40.4% from three-point distance on really good volume at 5.8 attempts per game that remains a career best for him but during the 202425 season he still brought that that same perimeter spacing threat albeit a little less efficiently and it was quite up and down for him when you look at the splits of it all Sam you know it just kind kind of goes to show you that in the latter portion of the year is when he really started to kind of take off in terms of efficiency pre-allar break Sam Merrill shot uh 36.1% from three-point distance 39.6% from the field overall post all-star break in those 26 games he shot 39.4% from three-point distance so right around that 40% range which is great for Melo on the volume that he was giving you he drilled if I’m not mistaken 50 triples 50 triples in 26 games post Allstar and was a plus 10.8 he adds he adds to the equation in ways that a lot of people just don’t think just don’t think he does he’s more than just a shooter i I don’t think it is a bad deal i don’t think it’s an overpay i just think it’s the reality of role players in the NBA these days i just don’t think uh I I just don’t think that people take that into consideration but with that being the case let’s go ahead and hop into the chat reef Gang says “Little much for Sam especially since it means losing Tai four for 24 or 28 sounds better.” I mean the reality is that Merryill was not I think his valuation was in like the 8 million $9 million range i think there was actually a piece on that that was released so I don’t think that’s necessarily it was ever really something that was realistic i think he was always going to get something starting at least in the sevens uh so I think that this this makes sense for him makes a lot of sense we’ll see whether or not he actually stays the entirety of that contract and if the Cavaliers um still have him playing that same type of role or his minutes increase or decrease but I think as far as like modernday contracts goes this is pretty reasonable i I you know I don’t think it’s like Jetty Osman level contracts if you guys remember the deal that they handed Jetty during the uh tumultuous era in in Pulse LeBron it just was not good it it it was not a good look so it’s far from that i think that that contract really really pissed me off back in the day but I I understand it for for those of you who don’t remember Jedy got a four-year about $31 million deal um Merrill for what he provides you and he provides you more than Jetty in my opinion just purely from a like onc court perspective not necessarily just the statistics of it all Sam Merryill is a uh more valuable contributor than Jetty was so this is a it’s a great deal in my opinion to retain him on that value cleveland sports fan says Sam Rail is my man yes this is a good one um I am not mad at this at all no capab says we lit Sam Merrill screech Dero says glad Sam the man is back jquest says big up Sam the Mormon missile getting paid hey he deserves it like he he has been a valuable contributor and listen the whole team shot very poorly in the 2024 25 postseason sam Merrill for what it’s worth in the eight games that he did appear in shot 35.9% and I believe he actually was one of the more efficient Cavaliers in that series in terms of the perimeter shotmaking i have to look it back up but uh I I think that he was actually among one of the more efficient shooters from beyond the arc yeah during the during the actually you know what nope scratch that in the four games that he appeared and he shot 33.3% from three-point distance but compared to some of the other options on the team that actually still stands out because Donovan Mitchell was terrible from beyond the arc max Strus struggled um DeAndre Hunter Evan Mobley and anybody else out there well Evan Moley was actually one of the other players on the roster on albeit on low volume who shot very inefficiently who shot very efficiently against the Pacers in that series so I don’t know i think you needed to retain him then this makes a lot of sense to me charlie Atherton uh thanks appreciate that man says “It’s a good move but dang I am gonna miss Tai.” Yeah me too man i I do and will as well if he does not return joe says “Really good value love Sam’s effort on D last year did he lead the team in charges drawn?” Yeah I believe he did that’s a stat I don’t have that off the top of my head but I would need to I would need to go look that up that’s a great thing to go to go look at the hustle stats of it all especially over the course of the season for a player that is not seeing nearly as many minutes as some of these other guys so I love it um the leader in charges drawn this year by the way was uh was Tumani Kamara uh in terms of charges drawn per game in terms of total charges on the season let’s take a look here cleveland we got Yeah he did he led the team sam Merrill drew drew nine charges this year um by far the leader on the Cavaliers but you look elsewhere again tumani Kamar led the entire league he had three times as many with 31 hell Austin Reeves had 22 uh Bots had 20 Jaylen Brunson had 20 etc etc but for a bench player to be able to go out there and do that that’s pretty dope to me no cap says clutch Merryill uh Ehindo 23 Gaming says “Let’s go dude.” Idea Main says “No way way overpaid.” I don’t think so look at the the contracts that are being handed out i think a lot of people like still have this idea that eight and$ million is a lot of money for a serviceable role player that’s not a lot of money especially in this new CBA it’s really not um I don’t think they overpaid when you look at his valuation it’s right on uh right on par with what I think uh some of the guys out there at ESPN and I think Keith Smith was one of the people that point this out as well but um the valuation for Sam Merrill in terms of free agency on the open market was uh right along lines with the deal that he actually signed and it it makes sense it makes sense to me so hopefully you guys don’t think this deal is terrible uriah says “Does that mean Jerome is gone?” I think it more than likely signals that they are okay moving on from Ty Jerome because of the addition of Lonzo but it is not a foregone conclusion i just want to put that out there he still can be resigned but this is all dependent on whether or not Dan Gilbert wants to pay that huge luxury tax bill that will be thrown his way in the event that he does truly Kirk Davis says “Let’s go now we need to back up big come on now.” I’m right there with you yeah this is uh this is crazy absolutely crazy if you’re going to try and resign Tai uh and and Merrill in the same offseason but I just don’t think that’ll happen does Tai resign do you think we still flip Dean or Allen asks Mr king 562 no I don’t i I I say no to both of those tentatively i think Ty Jerome is likely gone i think that Dean Wade and Jeredown are still likely to stay um it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be looking at deals if you can acquire a player that better fits the roster or the rotation rather by moving a Jared Allen or a Dean Wade I think you look at it i think you explore those options but I don’t think the likelihood of that happening is all that large right now because each you would have to acquire a different type of player with each move if you move Jared Allen you know you now have to probably get two centers uh because you don’t want to truly rely on Evan Mobley to be the only center on the roster it’s really it so that’s why I don’t think that that’s why I don’t think Jared Allen will be moved dean Wade on the other hand it’s all about what he could get you back one name that keeps being thrown out there is Nick Richards um I think that if it is a deal with Phoenix you have to likely include a 13 because even after the Kevin Durant trade that sent Dylan Brooks and Jaylen Green to Phoenix um to match salary there at around 54 million even after they acquired Mark Williams during the draft they’re they’re likely to be over that second apron uh so the the trades haven’t been finalized yeah they can try and move some additional pieces in that to try and get under the second apron but the chances of them being under the second apron by the time the Cavaliers would be trying to to make a deal work with them I just don’t think the likelihood is that high and what that means essentially is that they can’t take any more salary on much like the Cavaliers so any deal that you make with a team out there you’re salary matching or salary Yeah or salary dumping uh so I don’t know i think they’re more than likely to acquire a veteran big via the free agent market than they are during trades or with a trade but we’ll see we shall see the Tribe of Judah says “When was the last time the Cavs had this much space on the floor?” It has to be 2017 or 2016 um I thought they had a lot of spacing last year they just failed to knock down the shots like Evan Mobley turned into a really productive perimeter spacer this season and he was really good from the three-point line in the playoffs he was among the playoff leaders in terms of overall three-point percentage evan Mobley actually shot 45.2% from three-point distance on 3.9 attempts per game so good volume mind you almost four attempts per game that’s great um so you didn’t really have the spacing issues in the front court yeah technically if you want to consider if you want to say that Jared Allen’s still a problem in that area I don’t think it’s as big a problem if one of your big front court players is spacing the floor and Evan Mobley was doing that so I thought that we had a lot of floor spacing this year we led the league in that area during the regular season and we entering the first round we were like one and two with Indiana i just think it all came crashing down in glorious fashion come that series so we’ll see um but yeah I get the point that you’re making i I truly do because during that 2016 during that 2017 or 2016 season there was a lot of players that went through Cleveland’s that went through Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse whether that be Kyle Corver or um you’re looking at other guys out there james Jones uh well and these are years prior right um not just 2016 2017 there was a lot of different players that suited up for Cleveland during that uh second LeBron tenure that could actually shoot the ball very very well even Mike Miller during the 2014 2015 season steph says Dallas but you can make it PJ for Strus in two seconds and it’s very understandable trade um honestly with if you’re not bringing Ty Jerome back I think that you need to um I think that you need to be able to get somebody productive on that bench and I think that when the year starts Daryus G is probably not likely to be healthy so you’re in my opinion I think you should start Stress but when DG comes back I think if you you slide Max Strus to the bench so I think that you could probably create a potential problem that uh or more problems by moving Strus than you would by actually solving them his salary might look enticing to some teams out there but for the value that he does bring you I would question whether or not it would be worth moving him um and that’s not to say he’s immovable but it would have to be a very specific deal and I just don’t think that I would do that for uh PJ Washington over in Dallas and I think on paper I actually don’t even think that actually works from a uh from a trade perspective because of the salaries i’m since we’re already talking about it I might as well go ahead and plug the numbers here but I I don’t think that actually works on paper without some additional maneuvering so Struce straight up for the 2025 26 season is making about $16 million pj Washington is actually making 14.1 or so so Sprak says that that is possible as of right now after some of the moves that Dallas has made but I would wonder whether or not they would actually be interested in that that’s the thing right to me that’s that’s the big thing would they actually be interested in a deal like that time will tell it it is certainly interesting to to think about because it does solve some of the problems that you have but I just don’t know if it would be worth it because you’re you’re creating an additional problem you really are cedric Taylor says “If Allen can get at least one consistent mid-range close to the paint the the Cavs would be unstoppable.” It would be awesome it would be awesome jeremy Johnson says “What’s Channing Fry doing these days?” Um outside of giving Jared Allen and DeAndre Hunter and Darius Garland grief for their postseason injuries I don’t know we’ll see road tripping I guess mr king 562 says “How much does Dean make?” Well entering this final season of his uh of his current contract he is actually be going to be making 6.6 million the problem with Cleveland is that they are a second apron team meaning that they are going to have to match salaries with any team post trade if you’re planning on aggregating said salaries so if you’re moving just Dean Wade the the type of players that you’re going to get back for just Dean Wade probably not going to move the needle there are some out there that I would at least inquire about and that’s why Nick Richards was thrown out there if Phoenix conduct the tax or you can get a third team involved but many of these team many of these uh potential trades that Cleveland would likely be making involving a Dean Wade if you’re intending on bringing back a rotation caliber piece would probably have to include some type of third team king Mamba says three-teamer with sex to Dallas you maybe there there’s been some reported interest there strong like Bull says JA and Struce for Gaffford in Washington um that is an intriguing option that uh not sure if either team goes for but I like the uh the creativity lt says we need 20 point 20 productive minutes a night from Sam and Ball i think you get that ball right if you don’t overexacerbate him if you don’t overuse him I think he can give you 15 to eight to 15 to 20 minutes per night i think Sam Merrill if he falls right into where he was this year and the year prior you’ll get some productive minutes you’ll get some productive minutes cj says “I have a feeling Porter Jr is on the way out is on the way out in a way and that makes me sad i wish we had a better shot at the backup point guard lonzo is better for sure.” Um it yeah I understand what you’re saying i understand what you’re saying um strong like bull says 100 million for Sam please discuss that listen in terms of the tax bill that is all a Dan Gilbert problem frankly I don’t care i I’m not paying the money you guys shouldn’t care either it’s about whether or not Dan Gilbert feels as if the product that is on the court is going to be worth the additional money that he’s going to pay i’ll just I I’ll leave it at that there are players that you probably could have tried to look for and ask to try and make up for what you would be potentially losing if you did not resign Sam but in the grand scheme of things the market was pretty dry the free agency uh the free agency guys out there right now the guys that will be potentially available on the vet minimum not many if at all could actually realistically acquire and affect the game in the same way that Sam Merrill does and that might sound crazy to a lot of you people out there listening but I don’t think it’s sacrilege to to say so i just think that people massively underrate what he brings to the table the the free agent market though in general for 2025 offseason it is not great it is very very watered down and for the types of guys that are going to be available for around the veteran minimum you just have to understand like there the options ain’t flush it is really really rough going out there i mean the the market reads as follows if you’re just looking at purely shooting guards which I think that is where we’re that’s where we’ll go for classification of Sam Merryill shooting guard the options towards the back end that will be available for around the veteran minimum gary Trent Jr which that is not necessarily a given that he won’t re that he’ll sign on the dotted line for the vet minimum seth Curry I think that there’s a lot of speculation that he could be joining his brother over in Golden State but that is you know there’s a lot of up in the air nquille Alexander Walker is probably going to be somebody that is highly sought after don’t see that being an option gary Harris could he be an option who knows uh but I think I’d rather take my chances with Sam Merrell over that luke Canard is a free agent unrestricted free agent but I think he is far from better and minimum level contract status i just think that people have to be realistic about what we could look at uh Landry Shamid Jos Christopher Damen Lee Alec Burks Garrett Temple Amir Coffee these are the types of players at shooting guard that they would be looking at on the open market if you expand that just to forwards in particular it doesn’t get much better we’re looking at old friend Lamar Stevens Kevin Knox Braxton Key Jeremiah Robinson Earl but these those are more so especially in the case of Robinson Earl he is a power forward not a lot of options out there at small forward even that the Cavaliers could realistically afford for the veteran minimum contract not a lot man and and that’s putting it mildly maybe Jan Tate if he signs for the um for the vet minimum but he’s a completely different type of player than Murrell and that is why I say we just have to understand that it’s not about it truly is not about that tax bill if if Dan is is willing to pay the money to retain him then let him pay it it is not our problem it truly isn’t jay Dia says “Fans be annoying over us losing Tai and signing Sam.” Honestly like both moves um I understand why people might be upset about all of this all I can say is that you know have some faith i think you take that risk for Lonzo in regards to Isaac moving Isaac Foronzo 10 times out of 10 especially for what it cost you it was essentially as of right now a onetoone swap does not appear to cost any additional draft capital if I’m not mistaken but I guess that could change by the time the deal gets finalized strong like Bull says “Wonder how DeAndre is feeling now that his buddy is leaving.” Probably not that bad i mean he’s on a championship contender i and Tai you know I’m I’m I feel bad but at the end of the day it is a uh you got to understand that sometimes these things happen it’s a business at the end of the day and um I wish him the best he could potentially return but I just don’t think he will i I I truly don’t think after watching the moves that have been made today I just don’t think that’s gonna happen mr king 562 says “Ammani stays in the gym i’m hope he gets meaningful minutes this season i’ve had a lot of conversations with people about Ammani Bates lately and the one thing the consensus that I’ve come to is that uh he ain’t ready i think that if you’re going to see Ammani Bates this season it’s going to be sporadic like it was last year and that’s putting it really nicely because you barely you have barely seen Ammani Bates since he was drafted ammani Bates if I’m not mistaken has played 10 career games in two seasons i think that will likely continue to be the case um nothing against Ammani but I think that some of the players that are working against him in terms of that like hill that positional hill that he is trying to climb is going to be insurmountable especially if you’re looking at including Jaylen Tyson in the rotation so I do think he’ll get like if and this is again assuming that he is actually brought back cuz right now he’s not under contract if he is brought back I do think that it’s going to just be sporadic it won’t be anything like meaningful like rotationwise we’ll have to see we’ll have to see i just don’t think he’s ready and I I I’m trying to be as candid as I can i still believe in his long-term potential but he’s he’s only 21 and I think there is still time for him to mature into the type of player that can be useful on a playoff contender but for a title contender I just don’t I don’t think they can afford him many opportunities if any at all right now to like develop on the fly and I but I get the allure with him the three-point shot making that is a skill that he possesses but again it what we have seen from him has been a ton of inefficiency at the G- League level that’s it michael uh McMahon says any more on Rocket Center lock I think is that who you’re referring to jacques Londell uh read they were going to release him and would be a veteran minimum guy um if honestly if Lale became available I still think the number one target for me would likely be Larry Dance Jr on the vet market but we’ll see what they end up doing jeremy Johnson says “You think Utah would trade Keonte George or Walker Kesler?” Not for what Cleveland could offer i mean what are you sending them i guess that’s the question his price tag seems to be extremely high um I don’t know we’ll see i don’t know i think that’s that’s probably a good good uh place to leave it at there’s one more comment that I just want to um want to address here manuel Velasquez says “I just don’t understand why you pushing so hard for having Larry Nance back he’s not a real center he’s not even a good shooter we are better off without him.” Manuel I would I would consider Larry Nch Jr a center at this point of his career considering that is where he played the bulk of his minutes over the last couple of seasons both with Atlanta and New Orleans you just have to understand that guys as they start to get older have to pick up some type of skill set that allows them to remain in the league and for Larry Nish Jr who has been sapped of some of the early career athleticism his way of doing that was you know sliding over to the center because he still has enough mobility to be effective there and again this is a guy who has played 62% of his minutes at center last year that is by far the most of any reserve player that we have right that includes um Dean Wade and DeAndre Hunter he played 98% of his minutes for at center for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2023 24 season 81% the year prior so the moral of the story he is a center at this point of his career but again if you don’t believe me check out some of the film watch some of the videos that I have made on said topic and understand that he did shoot 44.7% from three-point distance last season on rather decent volume at 3.2 attempts per game that’s right in line with what we got from Evan Mobley do you consider Evan Mobley a terrible three-point shooter i don’t i think Moy is actually taking some steps so got to understand what we’re working with and in terms of like guys who can actually play um can actually play viable playoff level minutes how many other options out there available for the potential veteran minimum can actually do that again I think what we need to do is before we start making comments like this is look at who is actually available we can talk all the live long day about how we want size but if you took one look at the veteran minimal market the guys available none of them are playoff worthy bigs i have a video out right now on Bism Bambbo i think he would be a valuable addition at least during the regular season but even he is not a playoff lock you’re looking at Alex Lynn you’re looking at Paul Reed Jericho Sims Charles Basy Jackson Hayes Thomas Bryant Luke Cornette luke Cornet may or may not be available but again these are gamles the market is not flush that’s it so for anybody out there complaining uh you have to understand the options they’re not great and that’s and that is why I keep saying Larry Nich Jr needs to be brought back got to understand you got to understand who can actually go out and affect the game and if you’re talking about Larry as this unders sized guy I encourage you to watch the film because at the end of the day what Larry N Jr brings to the table is versatility positional versatility floor spacing he is still a solid rebounder still a very solid defender at that spot it makes a lot of sense and he can pass he can pass so we’ll have to see what Cleveland intends to do but I’m not all that worried that they won’t be able to get something done because we’ve been worrying these last couple of weeks that Kobe Alman hasn’t been able to accomplish anything and guess what he just went out there and made two pretty pretty helpful moves in the acquisition Alonzo and retaining at the least for now Sam Merrill and Tyres Proctor was a solid pick these are some these are some good moves so I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll figure this out and we do have a couple more spots on the roster if they want to bring in a four five and then a true center they can do that they can go both avenues but I don’t I think you would be I think you would be hardressed to find a more valuable contributor on a veteran minimum contract than Lar Streeter we’ll see time will tell go Cavs

Sam Merrill will be returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers! Time to discuss the aftermath!

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