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May 01, 2023

Cavaliers 2023 offseason primer: Targets, outgoing free agents, trades, draft needs & more

Caris LeVert and Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Brad

Caris LeVert and Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

The NBA season is filled with ups and downs, with wins and losses. Players make shots and miss shots, pull of slick passes and fumble their way to embarrassing turnovers. If the season is a thrill ride, then the offseason is Roller Coaster Tycoon.

The summer between each season is when teams are made and remade, shaped into new and more hopeful versions of themselves. The Cleveland Cavaliers underwent major changes last summer, and enter this offseason hoping to make less drastic moves to turn a solid core into a team that can contend.

Let's walk through each phase of the Cavs’ offseason, from free agency to trades to the draft. What do you need to know, and what might the Cavaliers pull off this summer?

The Cavaliers ended last season with 15 players on the roster and another pair of two-way players. Seven players have fully-guaranteed deals for next season: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade and Ricky Rubio. Another three are on non-guaranteed deals but likely to be retained: Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens and Sam Merrill.

That leaves five players who are hitting free agency, and it is highly unlikely that all five are retained. Those players are:

Mamadi Diakite and Isaiah Mobley are also free agents coming off of their two-way deals, and Diakite will almost certainly be gone. Otherwise, the Cavaliers could re-sign any of their free agents, but none of them other than Mobley seem like locks to return.