Report: Cleveland Cavaliers willing to take on money for upcoming season to get rid of Larry Nance Jr., Cedi Osman

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly are willing to take on money for the 2021-22 season in order to move Larry Nance Jr. or Cedi Osman off the roster.

“The Cavs aren’t just hoping to move Kevin Love’s deal this summer, as pie-in-the-sky as that might be,” The Athletic’s Zach Harper wrote. “Cavs could be willing to take on money now for this coming season if it means clearing deals like Larry Nance Jr. or even Cedi Osman for next season’s books. That might mean attaching Taurean Prince as cap relief with him only having one year left on his deal. The Cavs want to clean up some of this cap mess for the near future since Jarrett Allen is going to cost them.”

That means Cleveland would like to clear as much cap space as possible for next season in order to make a run at players in free agency or fit in an extension for a player like Allen or Collin Sexton.

Nance has been a great bench piece for the Cavs, but he was injured during much of the 2020-21 season. When he did play Nance averaged 9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. But, he did miss 37 games this season and his ability to stay healthy is concerning.

With Osman, meanwhile, he struggled mightily with efficiency last season. He shot just 37.4% from the field and 30.6% from three. It’s weird how Cedi went from a defensive specialist to a gunner in so little time, huh? Maybe there’s a trade out there where the Minnesota Timberwolves take on Osman to grab young misfit Jarrett Culver.

The Cavs have a lot of undesirable contracts for a rebuilding team, Kevin Love’s contract especially, but it is possible that they could move one or both of these players to a cap-strapped contender and take an unwanted salary back in return. There are only a few days left until the draft to go so expect things to heat up between now and then.