As the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to try to build, these three players probably won’t be back next season.
The post-LeBron James Era, Part 2, has been a rebuilding process for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This year’s 22-50 finish put them at 60-159 over the last three seasons. Another young player will be added to the mix in this year’s draft. According to Tankathon, the Cavaliers have a 45.1 percent chance of landing a top-4 pick in the lottery with an 11.5 percent chance to get the No. 1 overall pick.
Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro look like pieces of the Cavaliers’ future core. But anyone else, this side of Larry Nance Jr. and maybe Dean Wade anyway, is hardly guaranteed to be a part of the equation come next season, let alone beyond that.
Anyone who is of a certain age, a certain salary level or has few years left on their contract is probably not long for a Cavaliers’ uniform. In particular, these three players won’t be back in 2021-22.
Which Cleveland Cavaliers will be in a new uniform next season?
3. Anderson Varejao
Varejao had not appeared in an NBA game since 2017 when the Cavaliers brought him back toward the end of the season. A run of injuries left the big man cupboard that bare. It was a nice bit of nostalgia for the franchise, but his impact (as expected) was not notable over a short run.
Simply put, Varejao will not be back with the Cavaliers next season.