Cleveland Cavaliers: 2019-20 NBA season preview
By Phil Watson
2019-20 roster
Key additions: Darius Garland (draft), Dylan Windler (draft), Kevin Porter Jr. (draft), Sindarius Thornwell (free agency), Jarell Martin (free agency).
Key subtractions: David Nwaba (free agency), Deng Adel (free agency), Channing Frye (free agency), Marquese Chriss (free agency), Nik Stauskas (free agency), J.R. Smith (waived).
The J.R. Smith standoff finally came to a conclusion on July 15, when the Cavaliers waived him. That was nearly eight months after he had been sent home by the team in mid-November. Cleveland desperately wanted to trade him, but with no market for the veteran guard, the Cavs simply stretched the $4.37 million guarantee for this season and cut him loose.
The biggest changes are on the coaching staff. Larry Drew, moved up from associate head coach to interim head coach when Tyronn Lue was fired following an 0-6 start, could never agree on the structure for a contract to remain with the organization as head coach and was let go at season’s end.
In his place is Beilein, who will be 67 on Feb. 5 and is a first-time coach in the professional ranks. He will have some experience on the staff, with former Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff coming on board as associate head coach.
Outside of the draft, the Cavaliers didn’t do much wheeling and dealing, sending a package of four second-round picks (one, in 2024, top-55 protected) to the Detroit Pistons to get the rights to Kevin Porter Jr.
Otherwise, it’s been small adjustments, such as signing young veterans Sindarius Thornwell and Jarell Martin to one-year deals and looking for some value with some camp invitees that include J.P. Macura, Alex Robinson, Daniel Hamilton and Marques Bolden, while also signing undrafted free agent Dean Wade to a two-way contract.
Instead the focus will be on the three rookies and the youngsters already on the roster such as Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman — who played well in spurts for Turkey at the FIBA World Cup this month — and seeing what they have in big man Ante Zizic.
There are storylines developing for this season in Cleveland, not the least of which is …