Losing Jerome in free agency would hurt a bench that already lacks shot-making.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a busy three days. In that time, they’ve:
- Drafted a polished combo guard in Tyrese Proctor fifth overall.
- Acquired Lonzo Ball in a trade for Isaac Okoro.
- Re-signed Sam Merrill to a four-year, $38 million contract.
Adding two additional guards and re-signing Merrill could be seen as signs that the Cavs are preparing for life without Ty Jerome. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, that’s the correct way to view it.
The deal cements the Cavaliers’ point guard depth chart of Darius Garland, newly acquired Lonzo Ball, Craig Porter Jr. and Merrill — as the expectation is that the franchise will lose 2025 Sixth Man of the Year candidate Ty Jerome in free agency, sources said.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Jerome is “seeking” a deal with an average annual value of $14.1 million, which would be the full mid-level exception. The Cavs can offer him up to $14.3 million next season on a multi-year deal because they own his early Bird rights.
Currently, 12 teams can offer Jerome his $14.1 million figure, and only two — the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons — could offer him above that with their cap space.
Re-signing Jerome will not be without a cost, especially considering it would put them more into the second apron. That said, the Cavs will be a second-apron team regardless of whether they sign Jerome or not. And they will need to make more significant moves, like we’re currently seeing with the Boston Celtics, if they want to be out of the second apron now or in the future. This is regardless of whether they re-sign Jerome.
The second apron makes it difficult to build a team. You aren’t able to sign free agents above the minimum contract, you cannot aggregate salaries in a trade, can’t trade first-round picks seven years out, and could have your first-round pick moved to the end of the first if you stay there for three out of five seasons. Those are hindrances, but aren’t penalties that inhibit the Cavs from keeping a winning team together. This is a 64-win group that needs time and continuity together, and not a major influx of talent, which is what these penalties are designed to prohibit.
Any decision not to retain Jerome would likely be because of the punitive luxury tax payments that ownership would have to pay for continually going over the luxury tax threshold (which is different than the second-apron amount).
Koby Altman has repeatedly said that the ownership group is committed to winning and spending in the luxury tax if it’s for a championship-level team. Considering how dire the rest of the Eastern Conference looks and the fact that the only proven NBA lead initiator on the bench has played a combined 70 games in the last four seasons, it’d seem as if retaining Jerome would be important to winning. This is especially so after we’re coming off an NBA Finals where the Indiana Pacers showed how incredibly important it is to have as many ball handlers as possible.
Additionally, just because you go for it this season, doesn’t mean that you can’t shed salary next summer when the repeater tax becomes more of an issue. This would allow the team to buy time to see if Proctor could graduate into Jerome’s role or one of the other young players into one of the veteran’s.
The luxury tax payment for retaining Jerome would be incredibly high. But this ownership group has resources (Forbes lists Dan Gilbert’s net worth at $23.7 billion), has been collecting luxury tax payments for the last seven years, and will be infused with more cash as Gilbert is looking to sell a 15% stake of the team after the large deals went through for the Los Angeles Lakers and Celtics.
The Cavs could be playing hardball with Jerome. It would benefit them to keep Jerome’s salary as low as possible. Additionally, this isn’t a situation where they’re likely to be outbid, since only two teams could actually do that.
The Cavs’ recent moves don’t make Jerome or the specific shotmaking he provides duplicative. If anything, he would benefit more from being able to play with the likes of Ball and Proctor.
We’ll see what deals are out there for Jerome. Free agency begins on Monday, June 30, at 6 P.M.