How the Cleveland Cavaliers can get under the second apron

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy and win the NBA Finals.

This is a phenomenal sentiment to hold onto. However, the reality of the situation is that the NBA is very competitive and volatile. Anything can happen.

Given the Cavs rough start, should the worst come to pass and the Cavaliers fail to crack the second round for the 3rd straight year, there will be difficult conversations to be had.

This is because the Cavaliers are currently the only team that is over the second apron. This has led to the Cavaliers incurring all of the second apron penalties during this 2025/26 season.

One of the most begrudging penalties that can be incurred while within the second apron is draft pick forfeiture. If any team stays over the second apron for three or more of five seasons their next unprotected first round pick will be relegated to the end of the round.

The great Stephen A. Smith once said, “If you are a quality team in playoff contention, then it (first round picks) really doesn’t mean that much,”

And while that is true in a sense, the Cavaliers are in a much more complicated situation. 

The issue with this somewhat outdated philosophy, is that the Cavaliers have already made deals that involved their draft picks to the point where their next available unprotected/non-swapped first round pick is in 2030.

This could pose a colossal roadblock for the Cavaliers as the current roster of players are extremely unlikely to remain contenders throughout the 2030 NBA season. For more reasons than age, the Cavs will have a very different roster by 2030. 

It’s actually more likely than not the Cavaliers will be trending towards a rebuild in half a decade, as championship windows have a much shorter shelf-life than they did before the updated CBA was released in 2022 with approval from then NBAPA president CJ McCollum.

Now it’s time to bring this all together. Since the Cavs are already over the second apron this season, it’s difficult to imagine them remaining over the second apron for another season barring anything short of a finals run.

However, the first casualty would make the team significantly worse as it’s near impossible to get under the apron without losing a max contract player or gutting the roster of role players. This is most likely going to be Jarrett Allen, whose extension will increase his cap hit from 20 to 28 million dollars; with a secondary option being Darius Garland or even Donovan Mitchell.

The guards and center might seem like very different options. However, should the team have to part with one of the core 4, these would be the best options for maintaining roster consistency around Evan Mobley.

Given the Cavs are extremely likely to attempt to remain competitive, even if they have to dip back under the apron, it can be assumed they will return a player in the initial trade that makes considerably more than the league minimum. This would mean the next casualty would have to be Strus or Hunter, with a possibility of a smaller departure as well (like Merrill).

This loss should be less concerning for Cavs fans. With the recent impressive play from Jaylon Tyson, the depth small forward role will become a bit of a logjam for the Cavs once healthy. 

With diverse contract values among the bench, it will ultimately fall to Koby Altman to determine who will be the odd man out. With De’Andre Hunter making almost $25 million next season, eyes will initially point at him should his performance fail to adequately mirror his near max contract. 

However, with the loss of one of the core four along with a role player, the Cavaliers would likely have to tweak their brand of basketball. A task that would fall onto the shoulders of Coach of the Year award winner Kenny Atkinson.

While the situation remains a worst case scenario, it’s impossible for Clevelanders not to imagine the possibility. After all, our Cavs haven’t had much organizational success outside of LeBron James since the days of Mark Price and Brad Daugherty.

Regardless, the Cavaliers will work to build on a record breaking season and expect to be contenders in an objectively weak Eastern Conference. Should they find the success they desire, expect most(if not all) of the current roster to return for the 2026/27 season.