Cleveland Cavaliers Have Three Clear Options With No. 29 Pick in NBA Draft

The 2026 NBA Draft has potential to be one of the best of all time.

Loaded with front of the draft talent, it also has some late players projected to be potential All-Stars or leaders of their teams.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers picking in the late first round on Tuesday, rumors are circulating on different options the Cavs could take with that pick.

Staying Put

If it turns out the Cavs would rather take their chances on the 29th pick and look for the best available there, it could work out. In recent mock drafts, multiple players are projected to be heading to Cleveland.

They could get lucky and have a player like Dailyn Swain or Jayden Quaintance fall to them. Two players projected in the 20-25 area, but could still fall to Cleveland. More recent reports and mock drafts seem to be leaning towards the Cavs taking big man Tarris Reed Jr. or Spanish wing Sergio De Larrea.

Those are areas of need for Cleveland that could come to be useful. But, there are other options with that pick.

Trading Up

It is very obvious that the Cleveland Cavaliers are tight on cap space. The 29th pick, although not a top pick, could become a valuable piece in any draft night trade.

Cleveland looks to be running Dennis Schroder through the news as somebody they may be looking to move on from. His contract is on the higher side for a player at his age and including the 29th pick with Schroder could get them up into that area of taking a more ready made player.

Getting into the lottery would be a tough task with just Schroder and a pick, but even picking late teens or early 20s would be a better outcome.

Another approach Koby Altman and the front office could look at would be going back.

Trading Down

That 29th pick has a cap hold on it that Altman may be looking at with the idea of dropping that down. A first round pick is guaranteed a four-year contract that could put them in a bad spot once again on their contracts.

Trading into the second round would not restrict them to an exact contract and they could sign somebody to a two-way contract and save them anywhere from $5 to $10 million in cap space.

Being in the second apron would make things hard because they wouldn’t be able to send cash in a trade. Making calls when it’s time for your pick would be the strategy with this decision.

Any team picking early in the second may have somebody they believe can make an impact immediately and could be open to a move.

There really are a multitude of decisions for Cleveland to make that all have pros and cons to them. 

The NBA Draft takes place on June 23rd and 24th at 8:00 p.m. on ABC and ESPN.