The Cleveland Cavaliers made a major trade later in the NBA offseason to land Peyton Watson and sign him to a new contract. In the three-team trade that also included the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavaliers moved Max Strus and picks out West to add their top target all summer. Now, Cleveland is expected to have one of the best starting lineups in the NBA for next season.
Watson joins a stacked starting lineup that already featured Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, with him projected to fill the small forward position.
Previously, it was either Strus, Dean Wade, or Jalen Tyson, but now, with Watson traded for and signed to a new four-year, $88 million contract, he’s set to have a big role on the wing for the Cavaliers next season.
Cleveland Cavaliers Starting Lineup After Peyton Watson Trade
By all accounts, here is what the Cavaliers’ projected starting lineup will look like next season after the Watson trade:
PG: James Harden
SG: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Peyton Watson
PF: Evan Mobley
C: Jarrett Allen
While this Cavaliers starting lineup is intriguing and has a chance to be very dangerous in the Eastern Conference, it comes with a caveat.
Technically, Harden is unsigned and not a current member of the Cavaliers. He reportedly had a ‘wink-wink’ deal with Cleveland to sign a new contract this summer, but that hasn’t happened.
However, with the Cavaliers rounding out their offseason, they were likely waiting to find out how much money would be available to give Harden after adding Watson.
Bobby Marks of ESPN gave more financial context after the trade.
“Notes for Cleveland – Sign-and-trade hard caps them at the first apron – Prior to re-signing James Harden, they are roughly $29M below the first apron – They have no tradeable firsts available right now,” he wrote in a post on X.
Still, if everything goes to plan, which so far it has, the Cavaliers starting lineup will be one of the best in the NBA for next season.
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