# 2020–21 Cleveland Cavaliers season

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 third season in a row.

## 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. 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.

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

## Standings
### Division

| Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
| y – Milwaukee Bucks | 46 | 26 | .639 | – | 26‍–‍10 | 20‍–‍16 | 11–1 | 72 |
| pi – Indiana Pacers | 34 | 38 | .472 | 12.0 | 13‍–‍23 | 21‍–‍15 | 7–5 | 72 |
| Chicago Bulls | 31 | 41 | .431 | 15.0 | 15‍–‍21 | 16‍–‍20 | 7–5 | 72 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 22 | 50 | .306 | 24.0 | 13‍–‍23 | 9‍–‍27 | 4–8 | 72 |
| Detroit Pistons | 20 | 52 | .278 | 26.0 | 13‍–‍23 | 7‍–‍29 | 1–11 | 72 |

### Conference

Eastern Conference :
| # | 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 | pi – Indiana Pacers | 34 | 38 | .472 | 15.0 | 72 |
| 10 | pi – 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

## Player statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Isaac Okoro | 67 | 67 | 32.4 | .420 | .290 | .726 | 3.1 | 1.9 | .9 | .4 | 9.6 |
| Dean Wade | 63 | 19 | 19.2 | .431 | .366 | .769 | 3.4 | 1.2 | .6 | .3 | 6.0 |
| Collin Sexton | 60 | 60 | 35.3 | .475 | .371 | .815 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 1.0 | .2 | 24.3 |
| Cedi Osman | 59 | 26 | 25.6 | .374 | .306 | .800 | 3.4 | 2.9 | .9 | .2 | 10.4 |
| Darius Garland | 54 | 50 | 33.1 | .451 | .395 | .848 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 1.2 | .1 | 17.4 |
| Jarrett Allen$^†$ | 51 | 40 | 30.3 | .609 | .316 | .690 | 9.9 | 1.7 | .5 | 1.4 | 13.2 |
| Damyean Dotson | 46 | 7 | 19.7 | .406 | .289 | .667 | 2.0 | 2.0 | .3 | .1 | 6.7 |
| Lamar Stevens | 40 | 0 | 12.5 | .456 | .160 | .725 | 2.4 | .6 | .4 | .3 | 4.1 |
| Larry Nance Jr. | 35 | 27 | 31.2 | .471 | .360 | .612 | 6.7 | 3.1 | 1.7 | .5 | 9.3 |
| JaVale McGee$^†$ | 33 | 1 | 15.2 | .521 | .250 | .655 | 5.2 | 1.0 | .5 | 1.2 | 8.0 |
| Dylan Windler | 31 | 0 | 16.5 | .438 | .338 | .778 | 3.5 | 1.1 | .6 | .4 | 5.2 |
| Taurean Prince$^†$ | 29 | 6 | 23.7 | .399 | .415 | .837 | 3.7 | 2.4 | .7 | .5 | 10.1 |
| Brodric Thomas$^†$ | 28 | 1 | 13.4 | .366 | .283 | .667 | 1.8 | .9 | .5 | .3 | 4.1 |
| Andre Drummond$^†$ | 25 | 25 | 28.9 | .474 | .000 | .597 | 13.5 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 17.5 |
| Kevin Love | 25 | 25 | 24.9 | .409 | .365 | .824 | 7.4 | 2.5 | .6 | .1 | 12.2 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein$^†$ | 16 | 2 | 17.9 | .582 | .333 | .686 | 6.0 | 2.5 | .5 | 1.2 | 8.3 |
| Mfiondu Kabengele$^†$ | 16 | 0 | 11.6 | .421 | .281 | .786 | 2.9 | .8 | .4 | .6 | 4.3 |
| Matthew Dellavedova | 13 | 1 | 17.2 | .250 | .160 | 1.000 | 1.8 | 4.5 | .3 | .1 | 2.8 |
| Jeremiah Martin | 9 | 0 | 8.3 | .273 | .250 | .200 | .8 | .4 | .6 | .2 | 2.4 |
| Thon Maker | 8 | 0 | 9.5 | .556 | .000 | .909 | 2.3 | .5 | .3 | .5 | 3.8 |
| Quinn Cook$^†$ | 7 | 0 | 13.6 | .405 | .462 | 1.000 | 1.7 | 1.9 | .4 | .0 | 6.1 |
| Danté Exum | 6 | 3 | 19.3 | .385 | .182 | .500 | 2.8 | 2.2 | .7 | .3 | 3.8 |
| Marques Bolden | 6 | 0 | 4.8 | .333 | | .625 | 1.0 | .0 | .3 | .3 | 1.2 |
| Anderson Varejão | 5 | 0 | 7.2 | .250 | .000 | .556 | 4.0 | .6 | .0 | .4 | 2.6 |
| Yogi Ferrell$^†$ | 2 | 0 | 20.0 | .381 | .333 | .000 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | .5 | 9.5 |
* $^†$ Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Cavaliers only.

## Transactions
### Trades

| November 23, 2020 | To Cleveland Cavaliers2025 second round pick | To Milwaukee BucksDraft rights to İlkan Karaman |
| November 18, 2020 | To Cleveland CavaliersJaVale McGee 2026 second round pick | To Los Angeles LakersJordan Bell Alfonzo McKinnie |
| November 23, 2020 | To Cleveland CavaliersRayjon Tucker 2027 second round pick | To Utah JazzCash considerations |
| January 13, 2021 | To Cleveland CavaliersJarrett Allen Taurean Prince Draft rights to Sasha Vezenkov | To Brooklyn NetsJames Harden 2024 second round pick |
| January 13, 2021 | To Houston RocketsVictor 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 PacersCaris LeVert 2023 second round pick 2024 second round pick Cash considerations |
| November 23, 2020 | To Cleveland Cavaliers2024 second round pick | To Houston RocketsKevin Porter Jr. |
| November 23, 2020 | To Cleveland CavaliersIsaiah Hartenstein 2023 second round pick 2027 second round pick | To Denver NuggetsJaVale 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 |