Cavaliers may leave 15th roster spot unfilled

The Cavaliers have re-signed Kyle Korver and added Jeff Green and Cedi Osman to their roster to bring their total number of signed players to 14.

That leaves one more spot for a full-time player, but don’t hold your breath on them rushing to fill it, per Joe Vardon.

A source said the Cavs’ immediate plan is to leave the 15th spot open for now, unless a “no brainer” comes along. Cleveland does have interest in bringing back Derrick Williams, but is intent on letting him test the open market.

This is a devastating blow for those on Hendo Hill (Gerald Henderson) or Mbah a Mountain (Luc Richard Mbah a Moute), but, given the influx of wings on the roster, it makes sense. Sure, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is almost certainly better than Jeff Green and Cedi Osman.

The Cavaliers all of the sudden employ J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson, Cedi Osman and Jeff Green, and all of those players have a real chance to be good enough to earn minutes on the wing this season. Green and Jefferson can find minutes at the four while Shumpert can play the nominal point guard, but that’s certainly a ton of bodies.

It’s also fair to wonder if the team is holding onto a roster spot because of any transactions they have brewing that have gone unreported. There is also a former LeBron James teammate that currently resides in Chicago that could be looking at a buyout sooner rather than later.

Until that day comes, my best guess is that it’s a maneuver to save some money instead of spending big tax money on a player the team isn’t really in love with.