Breaking: Cleveland Cavaliers Make Huge Decision on Pending Free Agents

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made a huge decision in their backcourt, as they've agreed to terms with shooting guard Sam Merrill on a four-year, $38 million contract to stay with Cleveland, according to Shams Charania.

Free agent guard Sam Merrill intends to sign a four-year, $38 million contract to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN. The Cavs negotiated the new deal with Kieran Piller and Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports, a success story for the 60th pick in 2020 draft. pic.twitter.com/NUo8CKR9vH
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 28, 2025

Some local Cavs analysts are even calling this move "shocking", as what it means is the team has decided to move on from another key free agent in Ty Jerome, a player who played an even larger role in Cleveland's terrific regular season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to lose Ty Jerome in free agency, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/qhYDbANKOW
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 28, 2025

As Charania notes, "The (Merrill) deal cements the Cavaliers' point guard depth chart of Darius Garland, Lonzo Ball and Merrill." Ball was acquired by Cleveland in another shocking move, earlier on Saturday.

It's a huge raise for Merrill, who is coming off a $2 million paycheck this past season, and now will make $9.5M annually. He was a key contributor for the top-seeded Cavs, playing a career-high 19.7 minutes off the bench, and continuing to shoot well from distance, at 37.2%, following a 40.4% mark the previous year.

Jerome averaged 12.5 points this past season while shooting 43.9% from three-point land. He will be in demand when free agency hits on Monday.