Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com revealed that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been telling free agents a harsh truth regarding their rotation.
Not saying #Cavs won’t sign someone worthy in buyout market. But in all their conversations with these free agents, the front office is being transparent and letting them know there isn’t an available role. The top guys who have other options want to play. They want a clear role
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) February 16, 2024
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Cavaliers were one of many teams that expressed interest in signing forward Danilo Gallinari.
“Before agreeing to a deal with the [Milwaukee] Bucks, Gallinari drew interest from several teams, including the [Los Angeles] Clippers, [Phoenix] Suns, Cavaliers, and [Chicago] Bulls, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto wrote.
Gallinari ended up joining one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference in the Bucks instead of the Cavaliers.
“The Cavaliers couldn’t guarantee the role Gallinari sought, while the Bulls aren’t a contender,” Scotto wrote.
Considering how well the Cavaliers have played over the last few weeks, it makes sense why the team doesn’t want to shake up its rotation at the moment. Cleveland owns an incredible 9-1 record over its past 10 games, which is the best record in the league during that span.
The team’s only loss in that stretch came when it fell to the Philadelphia 76ers at home by two points back on Feb. 12. The 76ers were without arguably their best player in Joel Embiid, but they managed to come away with a win thanks to the scoring production they received from up and down the roster.
A whopping six players reached double digits in scoring for Philadelphia, and Buddy Hield — who was acquired by the 76ers ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline — finished tied with Kelly Oubre Jr. for a team-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He also accumulated four rebounds, eight assists and one steal.
Cleveland’s winning stretch has allowed the team to gain separation over the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, as the Cavaliers are two-and-a-half games ahead of the Bucks in the standings.
But the Cavaliers still have a whole lot of winning left to do in order to catch up to the Boston Celtics in the standings, who own the league’s best record at 43-12. Cleveland is six games back of the Celtics for the conference’s No. 1 seed.
While it’s not exactly ideal that Gallinari signed with a fellow contender in the Eastern Conference, Cavaliers fans should be happy with the team’s rotation as is.
