NBA Analyst Reveals Why Cleveland Cavaliers Had 'D+' Offseason

It's been a rough offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

The Wind and Gold lost Dean Wade to the Philadelphia 76ers and franchise legend LeBron James signed with the 76ers instead of coming back home. 

Just how bad has the Cavaliers' summer been? NBA analyst Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report gave Cleveland a D+.

"We'll operate under the assumption that the Cleveland Cavaliers re-sign James Harden to a reasonable deal, but even in that case, it's hard to sell this offseason as a win," Bailey wrote. "The Cavs had three potential rotation players walk out the door. And their main target in free agency, LeBron James, chose someone else.

"Cleveland may have made the conference finals, but they were trounced there. And following that up with a half-step back looks bad. There is a bright side, though. Incoming rookie Meleek Thomas, who the Cavs grabbed in the second round, just averaged 27.2 in 29.0 minutes in summer league. He looks like a potential contributor as early as this season, and getting that out of a second-rounder could make this summer look a lot better in hindsight."

The Cavaliers did sign Mario Hezonja after LeBron went to the 76ers. The next step is to re-sign Harden. 

Cleveland is also still interested in Jonathan Kuminga. 

The biggest move the Cavaliers made this summer was signing Donovan 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.

A seven-time All-Star, Mitchell led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. It was the first time Cleveland made the conference finals since 1992 without LeBron, but the New York Knicks swept the Cavaliers en route to winning the championship against the San Antonio Spurs. 

Without LeBron, the Cavaliers' core remains the same: Harden, Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. We'll see if that core can get over the hump next season.