Cavs must fill one of two open roster spots, and it’s likely to be non-guaranteed deal

The Cavaliers have a roster spot to fill and it seems they would like to do it with a big man.

But given their salary-cap situation, they’d also like to do it with someone on a one-year, non-guaranteed deal for the veteran’s minimum. They really have no choice.

The non-guaranteed part comes from Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, who wrote:

“Cleveland also has two open roster spots themselves, but the Cavaliers are expected to leave their 15th spot open given their hefty luxury tax bill. Sources say Cleveland is likely to attempt to sign a 14th player on a non-guaranteed contract because of those tax concerns.”

That sounds about right and you probably don’t need NBA sources to tell you that — just a good mathematician.

I’ve not heard any names linked to the Cavs, but if I were them, I’d try to go big and find a screen-setter and defender to relieve Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt. Reports suggest a Tristan Thompson return is one possibility.

They may also want to consider the likes of Bismack Biyombo, Alex Len or give Moses Brown or JT Thor another crack at things. We have a full list of available NBA veterans here.

The key is finding someone who will sign it for the veteran’s minimum — and a non-guaranteed deal at that. For the record, Thompson’s contract in each of the past two seasons was only guaranteed until Jan. 7.

For the Cavaliers to fill that final roster spot, well, they don’t really have much of a choice.