The Cleveland Cavaliers are a mess. Worse than that, they are an expensive mess. Those two things do not go together well under the current NBA CBA. That is where the Los Angeles Lakers can come in and help both parties get what they need during the summer.
Cleveland will need to shed salary. At present, they are the only team over the second apron, and that status quo is unlikely to remain given the embarrassment that has been the Eastern Conference Finals. Kenny Atkinson might be saying the Cavaliers have analytically been the better team two times out of three, but the series count stands at 3-0 all the same. That calls for change.
“Analytically…we’ve won 2 out of 3”
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 24, 2026
— Kenny Atkinson pic.twitter.com/5Em0cDMFTK
"You can't stay in the second apron," NBA insider Marc Stein said of the Cavaliers. "Right away, you know they have to do some level of dismantling. I fully expect the [New York] Knicks to complete the sweep, and then, the questions all start."
Luckily for Cleveland, there is a team in Los Angeles who will be projected to have cap space this summer. They will be more than happy to offer the Cavaliers their much-needed financial relief. That is, if the Cavs are willing to play ball on who is heading to the Lakers in those deals.
Lakers can give Cavaliers an easy out to their financial struggles
With LeBron James telling everyone that his decision could stretch until as late as August on the most recent episode of Mind the Game, the Lakers got clarity on what their plan of attack can be in the summer. James' cap hold can be relinquished and they can start spending elsewhere.
That does not mean just signing new free agents in July. That cap space can also be utilized in situations like these. The Lakers have a get out of jail free card for teams facing financial hurdles.
The Denver Nuggets have already been floated as a team where that could matter. Add the Cavaliers to that list too.
What makes the Lakers slightly more attractive than some of their cap relief counterparts, like the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets, is they are not in a rebuild situation. Often times, teams taking on the bigger salaries in a cap dump will demand draft compensation for doing so.
If the Lakers simply evaluate there is a talent they like on the Cavaliers, the negotiations are simple: give us the player and we offer immediate financial relief in the process. For the Lakers, that could mean buying low on a player like Jarrett Allen and patching up the center position.
There should be no doubt, to some capacity, that Cleveland will need to shake up what they are doing, given how expensive they are and where it has gotten them. The Lakers should ready themselves to benefit from that.
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