The Cavaliers and Hornets have reached an agreement on a trade that will send veteran point guard Dennis Schröder and cash to Charlotte in exchange for point guard Tre Mann, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Cleveland, which had been shopping role players Schröder and Max Strus for much of the offseason in an effort to create more wiggle room below the tax aprons, will generate roughly $6.8MM in cap savings in the deal by swapping out Schröder’s $14.8MM salary for 2026/27 for Mann’s $8MM figure.
As Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron tweets, the transaction will move the Cavs approximately $29.7MM below the first tax apron and $42.3MM below the second apron, giving the team more flexibility to re-sign James Harden and avoid going back into the second apron.
Cleveland has also reportedly been exploring acquiring Peyton Watson or Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade, but doing so would hard-cap the team at the first apron, so more cost-cutting – perhaps involving Strus – would almost certainly be necessary to make that work.
Besides creating savings in ’26/27, the Cavs will also generate more flexibility for ’27/28, since Schröder’s $15.5MM salary for next season is partially guaranteed for $4.35MM, while Mann has an $8MM team option.
The Hornets, meanwhile, entered the day with about $27.5MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line and $35.6MM below their first-apron hard cap, giving them the ability to take on plenty of additional salary via trades. They’ll sacrifice about $6.8MM of that room below the tax and aprons in order to add an established veteran point guard to their roster.
After trading away LaMelo Ball last month, Charlotte was projected to enter the season with Coby White starting at point guard and without a reliable backup behind him on the depth chart. Mann has showed some promise in the past, but he missed most of 2024/25 due to a back injury and struggled in his 53 outings last season, averaging 5.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 12.6 minutes per game with a .360/.323/.852 shooting line.
Schröder, meanwhile, made 70 appearances (17 starts) for the Kings and Cavaliers in 2025/26, registering averages of 10.8 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 2.7 RPG on .405/.329/.834 shooting. The German, who will turn 33 next month, has been up and down in recent years and has never been a knock-down three-point shooter, but he has spent 13 seasons in the NBA and has helped his country win gold medals in World Cup and EuroBasket tournaments. He should bring some stability to the Hornets’ second unit this fall.
More to come…
