Cleveland Cavaliers Are In Brutal Company This NBA Offseason

The Cleveland Cavaliers' lack of activity has been a hot topic of discussion throughout NBA free agency.

Feb 11, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and guard Darius Garland (10) celebrate after the Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the offseason with significant financial constraints, so they weren't expected to do a whole lot.

But I'm not sure anyone expected them to do absolutely nothing.

We are now in mid-July, and the Cavaliers are one of only three teams to not sign a player in NBA free agency, per Keith Smith of Spotrac.

The other two squads? The Boston Celtics (who are coming off of an NBA championship) and the Los Angeles Lakers, who just re-signed LeBron James.

Perhaps it may be a bit disingenuous to say that Cleveland has accomplished nothing this summer, as it did extend Donovan Mitchell, and it replaced J.B. Bickerstaff with Kenny Atkinson. It also selected Jaylon Tyson in the first round of the NBA Draft, and it may be in the process of working on a contract extension with Evan Mobley.

That being said, it's hard to not look at the Cavs' lack of effort in free agency with raised eyebrows, especially when you consider how so many other Eastern Conference teams have made legitimate moves in an attempt to improve.

The Cavaliers had very limited money to spend, but they were certainly not the only ballclub with money troubles heading into the offseason.

Cleveland has instead been stuck in cement, passing on most of the impactful free agents (there aren't many left) and also dragging its feet when it comes to potential trades.

In the Cavs' defense, the trade market doesn't seem too great at the moment, and the chances of them moving Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen at this juncture seem very slim. After all, Garland's trade value is apparently very low.

But after the Cavaliers were bounced in the second round of the playoffs, you would think they would have put forth more of a concerted effort to get better this summer.