Cavs Officially Sign Free Agents

The Cleveland Cavaliers made it official on Thursday, July 7th, completing their three team trade with the Heat and Spurs for Max Struss and then signing him and all of their free agents to new contracts.  Below are the official Cavs press releases on all the signings:

CAVALIERS ACQUIRE MAX STRUS

MADE 197 THREE-POINTERS AND AVERAGED CAREER HIGHS IN POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS AND STEALS LAST SEASON;

ALSO STARTED ALL 23 PLAYOFF GAMES DURING MIAMI’S 2023 NBA FINALS RUN

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired forward Max Strus in a sign and trade agreement with the Miami Heat, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. As part of a trade, the Cavaliers sent a 2026 second round pick (via Los Angeles Lakers) to Miami, and traded forwards Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens as well as Cleveland’s own 2030 second round pick to San Antonio.

Strus (6-5, 215) played in 80 games (33 starts) for Miami this past regular season, averaging career highs in points (11.5), rebounds (3.2), assists (2.1), steals (0.53), free throw percentage (.876) and minutes (28.4). He connected on 197 three-pointers, which ranked 21^st in the NBA, and his 80 appearances were tied for 15^th-most in the league. The 27-year-old also registered 55 games with multiple three-pointers (tied for 11^th-most in NBA) and 10 contests with at least five triples made. Additionally, Strus scored in double figures a career-high 50 times, including 11 games with 20-or-more points and a career-best 31-point effort against Charlotte on Nov. 12, 2022. In the postseason, he started in all 23 games during the Heat’s 2023 NBA Finals run and averaged 9.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per contest.

Over his four-year NBA career, Strus has appeared in 189 regular season games (49 starts) with Miami and Chicago, holding averages of 10.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23.1 minutes. He is also shooting .371 from three-point range and .820 from the foul line. The 6-5 forward set a career high for consecutive games with a three-pointer with 20 from Oct. 26-Dec. 8, 2022, and has five four-point plays over his career. Strus has also appeared in 43 career playoff games (41 starts), averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 27.4 minutes. After going undrafted out of DePaul University in 2019, he played in 13 NBA G League games for the Windy City Bulls (2019-20).

Osman (6-7, 230) was a member of the Cavaliers for six NBA seasons (2017-2023), including Cleveland’s 2018 NBA Finals team. He appeared in 404 regular season games (183 starts) with averages of 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 23.6 minutes. Stevens (6-8. 225) played in 165 games (38 starts) during his three seasons with Cleveland (2020-2023), averaging 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 16.0 minutes, as well as appearing in two postseason contests.

Strus will wear jersey #1 for the Cavaliers this season.

CAVALIERS RE-SIGN CARIS LEVERT TO MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed guard Caris LeVert to a multi-year contract, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

LeVert (6-6, 205) appeared in a career-high 74 games (30 starts) for the Cavaliers this past season, averaging 12.1 points, 3.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 30.3 minutes while shooting a career-high .392 (127-324) from the three-point line. LeVert, who was originally acquired by Cleveland in a trade with the Indiana Pacers on February 7, 2022, scored at least 20 points on 13 occasions and recorded 35 multi-three-pointers-made performances. In his 15 games as a starter, LeVert averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 34.3 minutes.

The seven-year guard recorded multiple historical performances this past season, including a season-high 41-point performance in a win over Boston on Oct. 28. LeVert joined Donovan Mitchell (41PTS) in the game as the first pair of Cavaliers teammates with 40+ points in a regular season game in franchise history. On March 14 at Charlotte, LeVert became the second Cavalier in team history to record 22+ points, 7+ assists, 4+ rebounds, 4+ steals and 1+ block in 27 or fewer minutes (LeBron James on Jan. 23, 2015 vs. CHA). In his final 10 regular season games (since March 14), LeVert shot .527 (29-55) from the three-point line, the seventh-highest three-point percentage in the NBA over that span.

Over his NBA career, LeVert has appeared in 392 regular season contests (210 starts) with Brooklyn, Indiana and Cleveland, averaging 14.1 points, 3.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.06 steals in 28.1 minutes. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round (20^th overall) of the 2016 NBA Draft after four seasons at University of Michigan (2012-2016).

 

CAVALIERS SIGN GEORGES NIANG AND TY JEROME

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Georges (George) Niang (KNEE-yang) and guard Ty Jerome, President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today.

Niang (6-7, 230) has appeared in 383 games (19 starts) during his seven-year career with Philadelphia, Utah and Indiana, holding career averages of 6.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 15.6 minutes and shooting a .403 three-point percentage. He has also shot .400 or better from beyond the arc in each of his last five NBA seasons and once recorded a 31-game streak with at least one made three-pointer (1/15/22-3/23/22), the sixth-longest streak in Sixers franchise history. Last season with the 76ers, Niang appeared in a career-high 78 games (one start), averaging 8.2 points and 2.4 Rebounds in 19.4 minutes while shooting .401 (154-384) from the three-point line. He also had the 13^th highest three-point percentage among all NBA players with at least 150 threes made.

Niang appeared in 46 career postseason games with Philadelphia (23 games) and Utah (23 games), averaging 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 14.2 minutes while shooting a .423 from the field (80-189 FG%) for his postseason career. Niang was selected 50th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers following four seasons in college at Iowa State.

Jerome (6-5, 195) has played in 157 games (seven starts) over four NBA seasons with Phoenix, Oklahoma City and Golden State. Last season, Jerome appeared in 45 games (two starts) for the Golden State Warriors, averaging 6.9 points and 3.0 assists in 18.1 minutes while shooting a career-best .927 from the free-throw line (38-41 FT) as well as a career-high .488 from the field (118-242 FG). Jerome has scored in double figures in 52 games in his career, as well as six occasions with 20 or more points. Last season, Jerome recorded a season-high 22 points (9-13 FG, 3-4 3P, 1-1 FT), a career-high-tying eight assists, one steal and one block in a career-high 41 minutes on Jan. 20 in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Jerome was selected with the 24th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, following three seasons at University of Virginia, winning the NCAA National Championship in 2019.

Niang will wear jersey #20 and Jerome will wear #2 for Cleveland this season.