Cleveland Cavaliers Missed on LeBron and Still Have No Point Guard

The Cleveland Cavaliers built their entire summer around a phone call that never came. For weeks the plan was to keep the books clean, keep the roster spots open, and wait on LeBron James. On July 24 he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers instead, and Cleveland was left holding four empty roster spots, an unsigned James Harden, and a wing rotation that lost two of its best perimeter defenders without replacing either. That is the state of Cleveland Cavaliers news heading into August: a 52-win team that got swept in the Conference Finals and has, so far, answered that sweep by doing almost nothing.

The week that was: LeBron chose Philadelphia

The reporting since has been unkind. Philadelphia had already traded for Jaylen Brown, giving James a roster with Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey on it. Cleveland's pitch was continuity with the group New York had just dismantled. The February trade that sent Darius Garland to the Clippers for Harden was also cited as a factor working against the Cavs. And James' agent, Rich Paul, offered the tidiest explanation of all: "when you won in a place before, it might not be the same. You want to leave those memories as they are."

The rest of the week filled in around that. Cleveland was reported to have mutual interest with Jonathan Kuminga on July 24, per Joe Vardon. Local coverage started floating DeMar DeRozan as a scoring add. And a July 30 deadline quietly became the most important date on the calendar for reasons that have nothing to do with star free agents.

James Harden is the Cleveland Cavaliers' unanswered question

Harden declined his $42.3 million player option on June 29 and has been negotiating a new multiyear deal ever since. A month later he is still unsigned. The number that keeps surfacing is two years and $60 million, with a guarantee of at least $20 million annually, and the sticking point is what that does to Cleveland's cap sheet: paying Harden at that rate either pushes the Cavaliers over the first apron or forces them to dump salary elsewhere to stay beneath it.

LeBron's decision did not help. The theory around the league was that James signing in Cleveland would have given Harden a reason to take less. Without that, Harden has every incentive to test what else is out there. He was very good in the regular season after the trade, averaging 20.5 points and 7.7 assists in 26 games, and he was not good in May, shooting 29.9 percent from three across 18 playoff games at age 36. Cleveland's leverage is that no other team is obviously lining up with $30 million a year for him. His leverage is that the Cavaliers have no starting point guard if he walks.

What the Cleveland Cavaliers roster looks like now

The core is intact and expensive. Donovan Mitchell voided his player option on July 8 and signed an extension reported at four years and roughly $273 million, which locks in an All-NBA Second Team guard through his prime and, depending on your view, either secures the franchise or handcuffs it. Evan Mobley is under contract through 2029-30, Jarrett Allen through 2028-29. Max Strus, Sam Merrill, Dennis Schroder, Jaylon Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor and Nae'Qwan Tomlin fill out the rotation behind them.

The subtractions are where it hurts:

• Dean Wade signed with Philadelphia for a reported four years and about $38.7 million.
• Keon Ellis signed with Brooklyn for two years and roughly $18 million.
• Larry Nance Jr. signed with Indiana on a one-year deal worth about $3.9 million.
• Olivier Sarr hit free agency and has not returned.

Wade and Ellis were the two guys Kenny Atkinson used when he needed a stop on the ball, and neither has been replaced. Cleveland re-signed Thomas Bryant on July 7 for one year and about $3.5 million and reportedly added Mario Hezonja on a one-year, $2.8 million flier. Hezonja is 31, has not played in the NBA since 2019-20, and has spent the interim winning things with Real Madrid, which makes him a fine low-cost swing and not remotely an answer at wing defense.

Meleek Thomas was the best thing about the summer

The 34th pick had no business being the 34th pick, and everyone in Las Vegas figured that out by the second game. Thomas, 19, a Pittsburgh kid who spent his freshman year at Arkansas averaging 15.6 points, poured in 30 against Detroit and then 35 against Miami on 14-of-23 shooting with five threes. He closed with 24 in the finale against Chicago as the Cavaliers won their last three games. His Summer League line came out around 27 points per game on 50 percent shooting and better than 43 percent from three, and he landed on the All-Summer League First Team alongside four first-round picks.

Cleveland did not have a first-round pick to spend. The Cavaliers' own 2026 first landed in Atlanta, which used it at No. 23 on St. John's big man Zuby Ejiofor, and a second first that had passed through San Antonio ended up in Sacramento at No. 29 for Alex Karaban. Getting a First-Team All-Summer League guard out of a draft in which you picked once, at 34, is the kind of outcome that papers over a lot of prior asset spending.

The caveats are the normal ones. He is a scorer who has not yet proven he can run a team, the shot creation was often the whole offense by design, and Summer League has made fools of better evaluators than any of us. But Cleveland's problem is a shortage of cheap, useful, on-ball perimeter talent, and Thomas is exactly that if the shooting travels. He is currently the only genuinely encouraging thing about the Cavaliers' offseason.

The cap sheet, the July 30 clock and Jonathan Kuminga

Cleveland sits roughly $25.3 million below the first apron with four roster spots to fill, and the front office has been playing a very specific game with the margins. Thomas' contract, signed using the second-round pick exception, does not count against the cap until July 30. That is the seven-day window Koby Altman has been protecting, and it is worth about $1.4 million in flexibility. "Every million dollars counts" is not a line executives use when they are comfortable.

Kuminga is the swing. The Hawks declined his $24.3 million option in June, making him a free agent, and his agent Aaron Turner said flatly that "Jonathan likes the Cavs, likes (coach) Kenny Atkinson," with Mitchell's blessing on top. The gap is money. Cleveland can realistically offer the taxpayer mid-level, about $6.1 million to start and $12.4 million across two years. Kuminga is reportedly looking for $20 to $23 million annually, which would require a sign-and-trade and Atlanta's cooperation. The Lakers are also in on him.

The larger choice is structural. Stay under the first apron and the non-taxpayer mid-level of roughly $15 million is available on deals up to four years, at the cost of a hard cap. Go over and the toolbox shrinks to the $6.1 million taxpayer exception and minimum contracts. Harden's number decides which door Cleveland walks through, which is why nothing else has happened yet.

What's next for the Cleveland Cavaliers

They finished 52-30 and beat Detroit in the conference semifinals after dropping the opener, then ran into New York and lost four straight, including a 130-93 wipeout in Game 4 at home. National grades for this offseason have been brutal, one outlet handing out a D and describing a team with no clear direction. Training camps open in late September with media day just ahead of them and the 2026-27 season tipping off in October, so there is time. The Cleveland Cavaliers still have the best big-man pairing in the East and a top-ten guard signed long term. What they do not have is a point guard under contract, a wing defender to replace Wade and Ellis, or a public plan. August is when we find out whether the LeBron pursuit cost them a summer or just a headline.