The Cavaliers assembled the best offense in the league, yet it will come with a substantial price tag. Each of Donovan Mitchell ($48,787,676), Darius Garland ($39,446,090), Evan Mobley ($38,661,700; estimated), De’Andre Hunter ($23,303,571) and star center Jarrett Allen ($20,000,000 with an extension already signed) will cost a lot more to keep than they did when first acquired, and two more eight-figure contracts are still owed to Max Strus ($15,936,452) and Isaac Okoro ($11,000,000) that sends the Cavaliers’ provisional 2025-26 payroll to the Top 3 in the league.
All told, Cleveland has more than $210 million in player salary committed for next season already, even before acquiring any new players or dealing with the free agency of Ty Jerome. This is enough to send them way beyond the luxury tax threshold, into the dark recesses of life beyond the second apron.
This was, of course, deliberate. The Cavaliers traded for Hunter in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks at the past deadline, knowingly taking on his $48,214,285 guaranteed salary that runs through 2026-27 when they did not have to, and gave up the expiring $16,615,384 salary of Caris LeVert in the process.
It therefore follows that they have decided what they are prepared to pay to keep all the plates in the air, and are confident that their incumbent team is good enough that draft picks, internal growth and minimum salaries will be sufficient to get over the hump and win a title. The effects of being over the second apron, though, are quite stifling
