2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers season

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2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Head coach	J. B. Bickerstaff
General manager	Koby Altman
Owner(s)	Dan Gilbert
Arena	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Results
Record	22–50 (.306)
Place	Division: 4th (Central) Conference: 13th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Bally Sports Ohio[A]
Radio	WTAM WMMS
< 2019–20 2021–22 >

The 2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 51st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They did not make it to the playoffs for the 3rd time in the row.^[1]

Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
1	5	Isaac Okoro	Forward	USA	Auburn Tigers

Before the start of the 2020 NBA draft period, the Cavaliers' selection was originally held as the #3 selection due to them finishing their previous season with the third worst record in the NBA (only ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors) before the NBA suspended their season on March 12 and eventually cancelled Cleveland's season on June 5.^[2] Like Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland held the best odds to jump up to the #1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft lottery, though the Cavaliers could have fallen as low as the #6 pick. However, unlike Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland did not stay in the top 3; their first-round pick instead dropped down to the fifth selection of the draft. The Cavaliers didn't have a second round selection.^[3]

Trades[]

On January 13, 2021, the Cavaliers were part of a blockbuster four team trade. As part of the deal which was headlined by James Harden going to the Brooklyn Nets, the Cavs received center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince from Brooklyn, while sending guard Dante Exum and a 2022 first round draft pick to the Houston Rockets.^[4]

On January 22, 2021, the Cavaliers traded disgruntled small forward Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets for a highly-protected future second-round pick.^[5]

Roster[]

2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From C 31 Allen, Jarrett 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 243 lb (110 kg) 1998-04-21 Texas G 18 Dellavedova, Matthew  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1990-09-08 Saint Mary's G 21 Dotson, Damyean 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1994-05-06 Houston G 10 Garland, Darius 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2000-01-26 Vanderbilt C 55 Hartenstein, Isaiah 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1998-05-05 Germany F/C 27 Kabengele, Mfiondu 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1997-08-14 Florida State F/C 0 Love, Kevin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 251 lb (114 kg) 1988-09-07 UCLA G 3 Martin, Jeremiah (TW) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-06-19 Memphis F/C 22 Nance, Larry  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1993-01-01 Wyoming G/F 35 Okoro, Isaac 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 2001-01-26 Auburn F 16 Osman, Cedi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1995-04-08 Turkey F 12 Prince, Taurean  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1994-03-22 Baylor G 2 Sexton, Collin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-01-04 Alabama F 8 Stevens, Lamar 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1997-07-09 Penn State G 33 Thomas, Brodric (TW) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-01-28 Truman F 32 Wade, Dean 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1996-11-20 Kansas State G/F 9 Windler, Dylan  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1996-09-22 Belmont

Head coach J. B. Bickerstaff Assistant coach(es) Greg Buckner Dan Geriot Lindsay Gottlieb Antonio Lang J. J. Outlaw Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: May 19, 2021

Standings[]

Division[]

Central Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div	GP
y – Milwaukee Bucks	46	26	.639	3.0	26–10	20–16	11–1	72
Indiana Pacers	34	38	.472	15.0	13–23	21–15	7–5	72
Chicago Bulls	31	41	.431	18.0	15–21	16–20	7–5	72
Cleveland Cavaliers	22	50	.306	27.0	13–23	9–27	4–8	72
Detroit Pistons	20	52	.278	29.0	13–23	7–29	1–11	72

Conference[]

Eastern Conference v t
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	c − Philadelphia 76ers *	49	23	.681	–	72
2	x – Brooklyn Nets	48	24	.667	1.0	72
3	y – Milwaukee Bucks *	46	26	.639	3.0	72
4	x – New York Knicks	41	31	.569	8.0	72
5	y – Atlanta Hawks *	41	31	.569	8.0	72
6	x – Miami Heat	40	32	.556	9.0	72
7	x – Boston Celtics	36	36	.500	13.0	72
8	x – Washington Wizards	34	38	.472	15.0	72
9	Indiana Pacers	34	38	.472	15.0	72
10	Charlotte Hornets	33	39	.458	16.0	72
11	Chicago Bulls	31	41	.431	18.0	72
12	Toronto Raptors	27	45	.375	22.0	72
13	Cleveland Cavaliers	22	50	.306	27.0	72
14	Orlando Magic	21	51	.292	28.0	72
15	Detroit Pistons	20	52	.278	29.0	72

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pb – Clinched play-in spot
• o – Eliminated from playoff contention
• * – Division leader

Transactions[]

Trades[]

November 23, 2020	To Cleveland Cavaliers 2025 second round pick	To Milwaukee Bucks Draft rights to İlkan Karaman
November 18, 2020[6]	To Cleveland Cavaliers JaVale McGee 2026 second round pick	To Los Angeles Lakers Jordan Bell Alfonzo McKinnie
November 23, 2020	To Cleveland Cavaliers Rayjon Tucker 2027 second round pick	To Utah Jazz Cash considerations
January 13, 2021[7][8][9]	To Cleveland Cavaliers Jarrett Allen Taurean Prince Draft rights to Sasha Vezenkov	To Brooklyn Nets James Harden 2024 second round pick
	To Houston Rockets Victor Oladipo Dante Exum Rodions Kurucs 2022 first round pick 2022 first round pick 2024 first round pick 2026 first round pick 2021 first round pick swap 2023 first round pick swap 2025 first round pick swap 2027 first round pick swap	To Indiana Pacers Caris LeVert 2023 second round pick 2024 second round pick Cash considerations
November 23, 2020[10]	To Cleveland Cavaliers 2024 second round pick	To Houston Rockets Kevin Porter Jr.
November 23, 2020[11]	To Cleveland Cavaliers Isaiah Hartenstein 2023 second round pick 2027 second round pick	To Denver Nuggets JaVale McGee

Free agency[]

Re-signed[]

Player	Signed
Isaac Okoro	November 21, 2020
Matthew Dellavedova	November 24, 2020
Marques Bolden	December 19, 2020
Quinn Cook	March 22, 2021

Additions[]

Player	Signed	Former team
Lamar Stevens	November 19, 2020	Undrafted
Damyean Dotson	November 24, 2020	New York Knicks
Charles Matthews	November 27, 2020	Unsigned
Marques Bolden	November 28, 2020	Canton Charge
Thon Maker	November 28, 2020	Detroit Pistons
Levi Randolph	December 1, 2020	Canton Charge
Norvel Pelle	December 19, 2020	Philadelphia 76ers
Yogi Ferrell	January 11, 2021	Sacramento Kings
Brodric Thomas	February 24, 2021	Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Quinn Cook	March 12, 2021	Los Angeles Lakers
Anderson Varejao	May 4, 2021	Flamengo Basketball

Subtractions[]

Player	Reason left	New team
Rayjon Tucker	Waived	Los Angeles Clippers
Norvel Pelle	Waived	Canton Charge
Matt Mooney	Waived	Raptors 905
Charles Matthews	Waived	Canton Charge
Levi Randolph	Waived	Canton Charge
Thon Maker	Waived
Andre Drummond	Waived	Los Angeles Lakers

Notes[]

References[]