It has been nearly a week since the Cavaliers agreed to terms with James Harden on a three-year deal reportedly worth $97MM, but the two sides have yet to make that contract official as the team navigates the first-apron hard cap that was imposed as a result of its sign-and-trade deal for Peyton Watson.
The Cavaliers are currently operating roughly $28.4MM below the first apron. If we assume Harden’s three-year contract is worth exactly $97MM, his first-year salary could only get as low as $30.8MM.
According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (video link), the expectation is that Cleveland will waive forward Cam Whitmore, whom the team acquired as part of that five-team Watson trade. The Cavs have until Saturday (August 29) to finalize their decision on Whitmore if they intend to use the stretch provision to spread his $5,458,310 expiring salary across three seasons, reducing his cap hit to $1,819,437.
Waiving and stretching Whitmore’s contract would leave the Cavaliers with 12 players on standard contracts and just over $32MM in breathing room below the first apron. Harden will become the team’s 13th man, and according to Fischer, the plan is for the Cavs to sign a draft-rights rookie to be their 14th man.
The cap hit for a rookie minimum salary this season is $1,357,763, but if a team signs a rookie free agent, “tax variance” applies to him, which means he’s counted as a veteran minimum player ($2,449,421) for tax and apron purposes. However, no tax variance applies to a player who was drafted in the second round and then signs a rookie minimum contract — he counts as a $1,357,763 player for cap, tax, and apron purposes.
Although Cleveland acquired 2022 second-round pick Ismael Kamagate from the Nuggets in the Watson deal, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be the player to sign a standard NBA contract with the Cavs, according to Fischer, who has heard that another 2022 second-rounder, No. 39 overall pick Khalifa Diop, could be the one to come stateside.
Diop, 24, has been playing for Baskonia in Spain in recent years. In 28 EuroLeague outings in 2025/26, he averaged 4.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per contest while shooting 69.1% from the floor.
Let’s say the Cavs use the stretch provision on Whitmore, then sign a draft-rights rookie like Diop or Kamagate. They would be roughly $30.7MM below the first apron, which would be a little shy of the first-year salary we noted above for Harden. But it would be enough to sign him to a three-year contract worth up to nearly $96.7MM. If they offer him every dollar they can, the Cavs wouldn’t have any room left below their hard cap to sign a 15th man, barring cost-cutting moves.
None of these moves are official yet, so Cleveland still has a little time to try to find a taker for Whitmore on the trade market to generate additional flexibility. It also remains possible that Harden’s new contract will come in a little lower than initially reported to give the front office slightly more wiggle room below its hard cap.
We should expect some action on this front within the next few days, since the Cavs can’t afford to postpone their decision past Saturday’s stretch provision deadline.