Cavaliers' extensions give them a one-year window

Cleveland agreed on a maximum rookie extension with 23-year-old big man Evan Mobley on Sunday. That follows a three-year maximum extension for All-Star Donovan Mitchell. While the Cavs remain nearly $10M below the luxury tax line for the upcoming season, that will change in 2025-26.

The upside of getting extensions done now for the Cavaliers is that the NBA's new TV package, worth $76B over 11 years, should create a steadily rising salary cap. Still, Cleveland is committing over $124M to the trio of Mitchell, Mobley and Darius Garland in the 2025-26 season, along with another $20M for center Jarrett Allen, whose salary suddenly looks relatively cheap.

This gives them one more year to evaluate their team, which lost in the second round last season amid injuries to Allen, Mitchell and Caris LeVert. They've also replaced coach J.B. Bickerstaff with former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. Perhaps the new coach can get more out of a talented group that has also looked redundant at times.

Garland and Mitchell are both talented scoring guards, but they're both only 6-foot-1 (Mitchell is listed at 6-foot-3, but he measured 6-foot-1 at the draft combine in 2017). Similarly, Allen and Mobley are great rim protectors, but neither one is an outside shooting threat. It's one thing when the team had talent that didn't exactly fit when Garland and Mobley were on rookie deals, but the Cavaliers might want to distribute their money differently when they're a tax team.

It's an important year for the Cavaliers to take a step forward on the court. If they don't, they could see Allen or Garland, or both, head out the door next summer. And since Mitchell's new extension has a player option for the 2027-28 season, the clock is ticking on his time in Cleveland, too. It's ticking quietly, but another second-round exit won't be enough to silence it.