The Cavaliers have officially signed big man Khalifa Diop to a standard contract, the team announced today in a press release.
The 39th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Diop was identified last week as a candidate to become part of the Cavs’ projected 15-man regular season roster, with reporting in the last 24 hours indicating he was in Cleveland taking a physical with the team.
Diop, 24, has continued to compete overseas since being drafted four years ago and has spent the past three seasons with Baskonia, a EuroLeague team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
In 28 EuroLeague outings for Baskonia last season, the 7’1″ center put up averages of 4.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 16.8 minutes per game. He put up 3.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 16.0 MPG in 19 appearances in Spain’s domestic league.
Diop will provide some depth in a frontcourt headlined by Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Thomas Bryant. However, the Cavs’ decision to sign him appears to be more about their cap situation than a desire to have him play a role on the court for the team in 2026/27.
Cleveland will be right up against its first-apron hard cap once James Harden finalizes his new three-year, $97MM deal, so signing a rookie instead of a veteran to fill out the roster will help the team stay below that hard cap.
When a team signs a rookie free agent to a minimum-salary contract, he earns $1,357,763 but counts toward tax and apron calculations as if he’s a veteran free agent. After “tax variance” is applied to his cap hit, he’s treated as if he’s earning the vet minimum of $2,449,421 for tax and apron purposes. But tax variance doesn’t apply to a second-round pick like Diop who is signing his first NBA contract with the club that controls his draft rights, which is why cap-strapped teams value the ability to sign second-rounders to minimum deals.
While Diop’s contract terms have yet to be reported, it’s safe to assume he received a minimum-salary contract, which will help maximize Cleveland’s breathing room below the first apron. Having officially added him to their roster, the Cavs have 13 players on standard contracts and are operating about $30.7MM below their hard cap before officially re-signing Harden, whose starting salary is expected to be worth nearly that full amount.
Diop’s contract with Baskonia hadn’t expired, so the Spanish club will presumably receive some sort of financial compensation for letting him out of that deal. The Cavs are permitted to contribute as much as $900K to a buyout.
