Despite a disappointing finish, the Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed the best season of the (second) post-LeBron James era in 2024-25. Almost all of their core rotation pieces are under contract for next season, except veteran combo guard Ty Jerome, who's slated for unrestricted free agency.
Jerome's status bears watching after enjoying a breakout campaign with Cleveland. He's due for a significant raise, though retaining him will prove challenging for the cap-strapped Cavs. The Sixth Man of the Year finalist is possibly on the way out this offseason -- if not likely.
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Re-signing Ty Jerome this offseason won't be easy for the Cavaliers
The sledding for a continued Jerome-Cavs partnership got even tougher after All-NBA big man Evan Mobley won Defensive Player of the Year. The latter's salary jumps from 25 percent of the cap to 30 percent after his award-winning efforts, creating a massive impact on Cleveland's payroll.
Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, Cleveland is $30 million over the luxury tax and $13 million above the dreaded second apron. That makes re-signing Jerome incredibly difficult, even though they have his early Bird rights, unless owner Dan Gilbert is willing to pay a premium.
Jerome's next deal has a reported estimated annual valuation of $12-14 million ($). However, like Marks notes, a deal slightly exceeding the non-taxpayer midlevel exception in 2025-26 ($14.1 million)"costs Cleveland an additional $80 million." In other words, the Cavaliers better be sure that keeping him long-term is in their best interest.
Considering Jerome got played off the floor in Cleveland's second-round playoff exit to the Indiana Pacers, we may have already gotten our answer. As great as he was in the regular season, the Cavs couldn't trust him when it mattered most on both ends of the floor. Nonetheless, his -13 plus/minus and -8.1 net rating in the Eastern Conference semifinals will presumably ring in president of basketball operations Koby Altman's head.
Even if the Cavaliers were willing to put Jerome's postseason shortcomings behind them, there's still a solid chance a guard-needy franchise outbids them. They can offer him a maximum of $14.3 million for next season. Yet, that may not be enough, setting the two sides up for a split regardless of how Cleveland decides to proceed.