We have a Friday afternoon trade to report: the Cleveland Cavaliers are trading Dennis Schroder and cash to the Charlotte Hornets for Tre Mann, according to ESPN. The deal marks the ninth time Schröder has been traded in his NBA career, making him the second-most traded player in NBA history behind Trevor Ariza, who was dealt 11 times. This will be Schröder's 12th NBA team, trailing only Ish Smith, who played for 13.
So, how did both sides do in the deal? Let's grade it to find out: This is a setup trade for Cleveland; we just don't quite know exactly what it's setting up. Schröder is set to make $14.8 million this season, and he has a $4.4 million guarantee for the 2027-28 campaign.
Mann will make only $8 million this season, and his $8 million team option for the 2027-28 season contains no guaranteed money. These savings bring the Cavaliers to around $29.6 million in first-apron room for this season. That's less space than you'd think, though, because it does not include James Harden, who remains unsigned.
When the dust settles, Harden will presumably stick around for something in the $25-30 million range. Sign-and-trades and the non-taxpayer mid-level exception create first-apron hard caps, so if the Cavaliers are trying to set up one such move, those are the figures to keep in mind. Cleveland has been linked heavily to two notable remaining free agents this offseason.
The first is Peyton Watson, whom they would need to acquire in a sign-and-trade with the Denver Nuggets. Considering his next contract would likely come in at $20 million or more per season, the Cavaliers would have a lot more cost-cutting to do if they hope to acquire him. Jonathan Kuminga, linked to the Cavaliers through his former working relationship with Kenny Atkinson when they were with the Golden State Warriors, would probably be a bit cheaper, but would still likely require some maneuvering.
Harden is presumably allowing Cleveland some leeway as it seeks out improvements on the wing, but that doesn't mean he's taking some enormous discount. If Cleveland is making a substantial addition, it still has more work to do. It has also created a bit of a hole at backup point guard.
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