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Cleveland Cavaliers

Covers the 6 tracked contracts at the top of this cap sheet — not the full 15-man roster · methods →

Win-now, closingApron exposureSevere
Front Office Brief

CLE carries $170M of tracked production (2nd of 30) against $409M of true cost, netting −$238M of surplus (29th of 30).

Tracked production$170M
Tracked true cost$409M
Net surplus−$238M
Tracked contracts6
FSI gradeF · 38/100
Move off Evan Mobley's money

Evan Mobley carries −$54.9M of negative surplus on $269M across 5 years. It grades "immovable" — the front office's biggest lever is finding the exit before the term shortens the buyer pool further.

Cleveland Cavaliers · Franchise Strategy IndexExperimental
Overall38/100F

Weighted profile led by roster quality (95/100).

Roster quality95/100A

$170M of tracked production ranks 2nd of 30 tracked teams.

Cap flexibility1/100F

$204M committed at the second-apron tier — hard-capped and rigid.

Asset base5/100F

−$238M of aggregate surplus ranks 29th of 30 tracked teams.

Championship window59/100C

Blend of 95th-pct production now and 5th-pct surplus to build on.

Downside risk (inverse — higher is safer)22/100F

58% of spend sits in negative-surplus money (heavy concentration).

Optionality23/100F

0 positive-asset contracts plus constrained cap sheet.

Roster thesis

CLE carries $170M of tracked production (2nd of 30) against $409M of true cost, netting −$238M of surplus (29th of 30). That profile reads win-now: an overall F-grade roster (38/100) whose defining trait is roster quality (95/100).

Best asset
Max StrusAlbatross risk

Max Strus is the surplus engine: −$17.7M on $16.0M, 4.1 marginal wins of production.

Worst liability
Evan MobleyAlbatross risk

Evan Mobley is the drag: −$54.9M under water on $269M still owed over 5 years.

Apron exposure
Tracked booksSevereSecond-apron majority lifts $204M of cap into $409M of true cost — a $204M tax premium and the roster tools that come with it.
Next Decision

Move off Evan Mobley's money

Evan Mobley carries −$54.9M of negative surplus on $269M across 5 years. It grades "immovable" — the front office's biggest lever is finding the exit before the term shortens the buyer pool further.

Warning

Strategic warning

Concentration risk: Evan Mobley's −$54.9M deal can swallow the flexibility the rest of the sheet creates.

Cleveland Cavaliers · Cap Sheet6 contracts tracked

This is BOW’s curated slice of Cleveland Cavaliers’s books, not the full roster — totals below cover only the 6 tracked contracts shown here.

Tracked cap committed$204M
Production value$170M
True cost$409M
Total AASV−$238M
Tracked cap hits
Model Assumptions

AASV = wins × $/win − cap hit × apron multiplier. Set the knobs to your own front-office judgment — every number on this page updates live.

$3.5M
What one marginal win costs on the open market.
1.50×
How much a first-apron team's dollar really costs (tax bill, shrinking roster tools).
2.00×
The punitive tier — frozen picks, no salary aggregation, repeater tax.
Best valueAlbatross risk
Max Strus

$16.0M cap hit

−$17.7M AASV

Biggest holeAlbatross risk
Evan Mobley

$46.6M cap hit

−$54.9M AASV

PlayerCap hitAASVVerdict
Evan Mobley$46.6M−$54.9MAlbatross risk
Donovan Mitchell$46.4M−$54.4MAlbatross risk
Darius Garland$41.0M−$48.5MAlbatross risk
Jarrett Allen$32.0M−$37.1MAlbatross risk
De'Andre Hunter$22.4M−$25.9MAlbatross risk
Max Strus$16.0M−$17.7MAlbatross risk