The Cleveland Cavaliers have achieved a lot of their goals this offseason so far. They were able to re-sign LeBron James and Kevin Love while also bringing in a veteran bench presence in Richard Jefferson. They were also able to trade the big unwanted contracts of Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller. With all that being said, the Cavaliers still have a couple of things to get done, the biggest of which is re-signing both Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith, which ProBasketballDraft says is likely to get done soon.
All along it has been likely that both guys were going to come back to the Cavaliers, as Smith has not received much interest from other teams and Thompson is a restricted free agent. The problem with Thompson is that he is looking for close to a max contract which would put the Cavaliers so far over the luxury tax. The reported deal Thompson is looking for is in the five-year, $80 million range. One reasonable option for both sides would be for Thompson to accept the qualifying offer from the Cavaliers that is worth more than $7 million next season and enter free agency when the cap skyrockets.
The Cavaliers and LeBron have made it clear that they want Thompson back and to keep him long-term. It's just a matter of agreeing to terms. Smith's situation is different in that he had a $6.4 million option that he turned down and now he is having trouble finding teams that want to sign him. Smith has said that he's gotten nibbles but the situations weren't right and now he is likely to re-sign with Cleveland for less than the option he turned down.
If and when the Cavaliers get these guys signed for next season they will be the 12th and 13th players under contract. The Cavaliers will reportedly only keep 14 guys on the roster once the season starts so that they have an open roster spot should they deem a trade is necessary during the season. Trading Haywood to the Blazers earlier this offseason gave the Cavaliers the biggest trade exception in the league at more than $10 million.