2016 NBA Free Agency: 1 move every team needs to make to be contenders

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the reigning 2016 NBA World Champions. And two-time Eastern Conference Champions. They have Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert signed on for the next three years, and the commitment of LeBron James, even though he just declined his player option for 2016. LeBron is a hometown hero that finally fulfilled his promise to bring a championship to Northeast Ohio, so it is doubtful he’d want to be anywhere else for the foreseeable future. He just wants to be sure owner Dan Gilbert is paying him the max of that $94 million cap.

Their biggest need is to re-sign JR Smith. The starting shooting guard completely outplayed Iman Shumpert and has declined his player option in the hopes of upgrading from his $5 million contract. Smith now shares an agent with James, the same who helped get Tristan Thompson $82 million last season, so it can be expected that the Cavs will have to pay big to bring back Smith. To do this they’ll likely need to renounce Matthew Dellavedova and TOmofey Mozgov, but both those players fell out of the rotation by the end of the NBA Finals anyways. Expect a large tax bill for Dan Gilbert and another $100 million roster, but that’s what it costs to win in Cleveland.

Next: Dallas Mavericks