Cavaliers Sign 24-Year-Old Center to 4-Year Deal

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed center Khalifa Diop to a four-year, $9.26 million deal, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. 

Diop, who was selected by the Cavaliers with the 39th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has spent the past three seasons with Saski Baskonia of Spain’s Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.

In 2025-26, the 24-year-old appeared in 47 total games (38 starts) for Baskonia and averaged 3.8 points per game on .670 shooting from the field, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game in 16.4 minutes per game. He helped Baskonia capture the 2026 Copa del Rey title, the club’s first in 17 years, after also contributing to the team’s 2023 EuroCup championship.

The Senegalese native represented his country at the youth level, including the 2019 and 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cups. Prior to being drafted in 2022, Diop earned 2021-22 EuroCup Rising Star honors while playing for Gran Canaria (Spain), an award presented to the best under-22 player in the EuroCup. He was also a member of the Cavaliers’ 2023 NBA Summer League championship team.

Diop will wear No. 18 for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers have a talented core of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Cleveland will start those five guys next season and bring newcomer Mario Hezonja off the bench.

Cleveland defeated the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons to reach the Eastern Conference Finals last season for the first time since 1992 without LeBron James on the roster. The New York Knicks, who won the 2026 championship against the San Antonio Spurs, swept the Cavaliers in the conference finals.

Watson was a great addition for the Cavaliers, who needed a small forward after LeBron went to the Philadelphia 76ers and Dean Wade left Cleveland for Philadelphia.

For the Nuggets last season, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.1% from beyond the arc and 73.0% from the free-throw line. He's one of the best two-way wings in the NBA.

Watson signed a four-year, $88 million deal to join the Cavaliers. The deal includes a player option and a trade kicker.

Cleveland opens next season against LeBron and the 76ers in Philadelphia. That will be an electric atmosphere.        

Can a core of Harden, Mitchell, Watson, Mobley and Allen win a championship? We'll find out soon.  

The biggest move the Cavaliers made this summer was signing Mitchell to a massive extension. Mitchell agreed to a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension with Cleveland.

The Cavaliers acquired Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in 2022. Mitchell is averaging 26.7 points per game in the regular season and 27.3 points per game in the playoffs in a Cleveland uniform.

If the Cavaliers falter in the 2027 playoffs, don't be surprised if Mitchell, Harden and Allen are not on the team in 2027-28.