Can the Cavs keep Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — As the Cavs ponder the next steps in the aftermath of their crushing Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Indiana Pacers, that offseason planning begins with two of their own.

Key reserves Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill are unrestricted free agents. The team would prefer to keep both.

“You want to call these guys end-of-bench players before that have become real rotational players and valuable within the ecosystem, not just us,” president of basketball operations Koby Altman said during his end-of-season press conference earlier this week.

“I think the good news is those guys are going to do really well for themselves. And the good news also is that we know because of our program, we’re going to be able to continue to develop our end-of-bench guys to become rotational guys. That’s going to be part of our evolution and also how we navigate some stiff penalty taxes.”

Of the two, Jerome is the priority.

“We’re hopeful,” Altman said. “We’d love to keep Ty, but we’ll see what the marketplace holds.”

While Cleveland’s bloated salary cap situation and likely second apron status puts limitations on what’s possible from a team-building standpoint, those pertain more to external acquisitions — trades, signings and sign-and-trades. As it stands, the Cavs have begun an offseason where the only outside signings they can make are minimum-salary guys.

That’s not the case with Jerome. He is their free agent. Same with Merrill.

The question is whether chairman Dan Gilbert is willing to cut a massive luxury tax check to keep two guys who reside a bit further down the depth chart despite playing critical roles on this 64-win team that flamed out earlier than expected.

“We have a talented young core that will learn from this and continue to get better,” Gilbert posted to social media on May 13. “We appreciate your incredible support all season long. It’s not how we wanted it to end, but I promise you we will do everything humanly possible to address what needs to be fixed and end in a much better place next year.”

As a potential second apron team — one of maybe three in the NBA this coming season — the Cavs become hard-capped by using the taxpayer mid-level exception, aggregating two or more player salaries in a trade, sending out cash in a trade and/or acquiring a player using an exception that was created in a previous sign-and-trade. But they can re-sign their own free agents, sign draft picks, sign players to minimum-level contracts and/or make trades where one player is sent out and the returning player has an equal or lesser salary.

Because Jerome has spent two seasons with the Cavaliers, they hold his Early Bird Rights. By rule, he can sign for up to 175% of his contract this year — a negligible pay increase — or 105% of this year’s leaguewide average player salary.

One Eastern Conference executive who spoke with cleveland.com estimated Jerome’s valuation to be $12-14 million annually — right around the non-taxpayer midlevel exception ($14.1 million) and a dollar figure that does not surpass what the Cavs could offer.

A bigger payday once seemed plausible — until Jerome’s horrendous second-round performance against speedy, athletic, feisty Indiana exposed some of his most worrisome traits, especially on defense, as the Pacers treated him as a figurative traffic cone.

Those more lucrative multi-year contracts are typically reserved for starter-quality lead guards — and Jerome is primarily viewed as a backup, finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting after a breakthrough season where he averaged 12.5 points on 51.6% from the field and 43.9% from 3-point range to go with 3.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds.

If the 27-year-old Jerome is looking for more money, it would have to come from a team with estimated practical salary cap space. There aren’t many of those.

Brooklyn. Detroit. Memphis. Chicago.

A few more could get there, freeing up space with some salary maneuvering to pursue Jerome — or any other free agent. But those financial decisions are typically reserved for more high-profile, Plan-A free agents.

Detroit seems unlikely. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s defense-first play style doesn’t suit Jerome’s game and the Pistons are widely expected to prioritize free agent Malik Beasley. One source close to Jerome viewed Detroit as a “longshot” — even though the Pistons need a steady backup behind All-Star Cade Cunningham.

Rebuilding Chicago, seemingly on the treadmill to nowhere, has become basketball purgatory, with little chance of rising up the conference standings. The Bulls also have a decision to make on restricted free agent Josh Giddey.

Memphis already has Ja Morant and Scotty Pippen Jr. at the position and may re-do Jaren Jackson Jr.’s deal, which would effectively wipe away its cap space. Plus, if winning matters, is going out West the best idea?

Brooklyn is at least worth a discussion, especially if the Nets aggressively pursue help-now pieces this summer to fast-track a turnaround.

Jerome is a New York native. D’Angelo Russell is an unrestricted free agent. The point guard spot is wide open. But thanks to another playoff absence, terrible lottery luck and an iffy free agency class, the Nets don’t seem positioned for an immediate ascension.

With cap-space teams looking like a wonky fit, the market will likely be set a notch lower.

At this point, more than 20 teams are projected to have the full MLE — and some would be appealing based on system, playing style, opportunity and contention status.

San Antonio. Dallas. Golden State. Keep an eye on all three.

Sources say the Nuggets have interest, but they will probably be a first apron team.

If money is equal or close enough, and Gilbert is willing to cut a massive luxury tax check (possibly nine figures when its all said and done), which situation is more appealing than Cleveland — a franchise that finished first in the East during the regular season, has two of Jerome’s closest friends on the roster (Mitchell and De’Andre Hunter), a coach that has given Jerome more freedom than ever before and a system where Jerome knows for certain he can thrive?

Jerome spoke at length this season about how much winning matters. He was at his best in a player-friendly, fast-paced, 3-point heavy attack. He’s never had more fun in his career, beloved for his mouthiness and on-court gesticulations. He fits — on and off the court. He has a specific role suitable to his game — despite being benched for the first half of Game 5.

“I loved my time here this year and I think we’ll see,” Jerome said following Cleveland’s loss to Indiana in the series finale. “We’ll see how it all plays out. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I like Cleveland a lot.”

Cleveland likes him too. Still. The second-round no-show didn’t alter its view of his importance.

Jerome’s relationship with Altman goes back more than a decade, when Altman was an assistant coach at Columbia University. The Cavs considered drafting Jerome in 2019 — until he went off the board two picks before they were on the clock. They attempted to pry him away from the Warriors a year before he eventually signed. He spent most of this season proving why.

And given the current salary cap situation, they won’t have the means to replace him — not with a player of his caliber, at his price point, anyway.

Same goes with Merrill, who one source said could be looking at a multi-year free agency deal around $6-8 million annually because of his prolific shooting reputation, improved defense and the leaguewide demand for players with his skill set.

For now, put those trade machines away. No need to ponder blockbuster deals that break up Cleveland’s celebrated Core 4.

The first order of business — ahead of NBA free agency that starts June 30 — revolves around Jerome and Merrill.