The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly earned their way to a third consecutive NBA Finals appearance. Cleveland’s 51-31 regular season record and 12-1 dominating performance in the postseason earned them another chance to play the Golden State Warriors for an NBA Championship. However, the Cavaliers have also cut more than their fair share of checks to reach the finals over the past three seasons.
In the three-year span since LeBron James returned to the Cavs, Cleveland has spent more than any other NBA team during the same time frame per Cleveland.com.
The Cavaliers spent $82 million for salaries and $7 million in luxury tax for the 2015-16 season. They followed that with the highest NBA salary last season, at $161 million, per the same article. That includes $54 million in luxury tax, which was the highest since the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets who paid $90.6 million in luxury tax to get bounced in the second round of the playoffs.
Now, Cleveland again features the highest payroll. They are paying $128 million for salaries with an estimated $26 million in luxury tax, per Cleveland.com. That brings the 2016-17 total to $154 million spent on salaries.
Is Cleveland’s excessive payroll justified by the success they have obtained since James returned?
For the 2014-15 season, Cleveland went 53-29 in the regular season before finishing 14-6 in the postseason. Injuries helped them end that season with a loss to the Warriors in the NBA Finals. Last season, the Cavaliers went 57-25 in the regular season and 16-5 in the postseason. This resulted in Cleveland receiving their first professional sports championship in decades as Cleveland beat the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
However, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert lost $40 million in his only championship season, according to Forbes. That loss of $40 million is the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. After payroll, tax, benefits and cash for trades, Gilbert spent roughly $185 million on his roster. They are one of the few teams to lose money last season.
Further, Forbes cites that it is the fifth biggest loss since they began tracking NBA business in 1998. Some of the other biggest losers include the Portland Trailblazers who lost $85 million in 2002-03, the New York Knicks who lost $42 million in 2006-07 and that Nets team who ended up losing $99 million. Those teams never even sniffed the same success as Cleveland over the past three seasons, let alone a championship.
Still, Cleveland is breaking the bank again this year. The same Forbes article cites that they extended head coach Tyronn Lue for $35 million over five years. This is in addition to the combined $8 million they still owe former coaches David Blatt and Mike Brown, who are no longer with the team. Brown is actually the interim coach for Golden State, ironically.
Not to mention, Cleveland started the most expensive starting five ever. Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson composed $100 million in payroll, per CBS Sports. That bill for the starters was more than 18 teams’ entire rosters, including the Warriors.
Over the past two offseasons, Gilbert gave Tristan Thompson a five-year, $82 million deal and signed LeBron James to a three-year $100 million deal. They also signed J.R. Smith to a four-year, $57 million deal. Plus, Irving currently has a $17.6 million salary and Love is making $21.2 million this season. Reserves Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye also make a ton of cash. Shumpert’s salary this season is $9.7 million while Frye is at $7.8 million for this year, per Spotrac.com.
Can the Cavaliers sustain this amount of spending as they continue their quest to win NBA titles?
It should be noted that Gilbert and Cavaliers have gotten their fair share of veteran bargains since James returned. This season, Derrick Williams contributed 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds and 17 minutes per game in 25 appearances. The Cavs signed him for a minimum salary, per Spotrac.com. Deron Williams also came over midseason on a minimum salary. He averaged 7.5 points, 3.6 assists,1.9 rebounds and 20 minutes per game over 24 contests. Plus, they traded for three-point specialist Kyle Korver who is only making $5.2 million this season.
Either way, the Cavaliers may have to continue spending if they want to keep winning and appease James. The Warriors are probably the only team that has won at the same rate as the Cavaliers over the past three seasons. Except the Warriors had the No. 1 record in the NBA with the eighth highest payroll this season at about $100 million, per Basketball Insiders. In 2015, they paid only $95 million in salary despite winning the most regular season games in NBA history. Thus, the Warriors have also maintained their winning ways like the Cavs, but they have succeeded at a more efficient rate. Although, that may not be the case once Steph Curry is up for a maximum contract.
Overall, Cavaliers have done their fair share of winning since James returned to the franchise in 2014. However, it has not been cheap. The Cavaliers’ winning has come at the expense of Gilbert’s pocketbook, and now that they must retool to catch up with the Warriors in 2018, wallets may be under more pressure.
*Player statistics via Basketball-reference.com
