Where should Sam Merrill be drafted in 2026-27?

The No. 191 player on the 2026-27 projection, down from No. 136 in 2025-26. Availability is the question: 52 games last season, 66 projected.

How many games will Sam Merrill play in 2026-27?

Our projection has him at 66 games, after 52 last season.

CLE

Sam Merrill

Cleveland Cavaliers · SG/SF · Age 30 · 6′4″ · 7th season

Rankings Bradley Beal Dereck Lively II

Rank#191SG #119 · of 233

Value-0.8009-cat, per game

$ Max value$0

Games6623 min a game

Rostered0.6%ESPN leagues

Fantasy outlook

The No. 191 player on the 2026-27 projection, down from No. 136 in 2025-26. He is top 25 in turnovers among rotation players; the cost is rebounds at 2.3 a game. Availability is the question: 52 games last season, 66 projected.

Stats over time

Rising: 4.2 in 2021-22, 12.8 last season.

Last season12.8

5-season average7.4

Trend a season+1.9

2026-27 proj.9.7

Up and down: between 4.2 (2021-22) and 12.8 (2025-26).
Per 36 minutes: 15.6 in 2021-22, 17.4 last season, on 9.7 → 26.5 minutes: the change is mostly his playing time.
The projection (9.7) sits between last season (12.8) and his 5-season average (7.4).

PTS rank among rotation players

23-24–of 24724-25#244of 26625-26#132of 27226-27*#185of 213

Per game, from ESPN box scores. * Our 2026-27 projection, dashed.

Season by season

Season	Rank	Value	GP	MIN	PTS	3PM	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FGM/FGA	FT%	FTM/FTA	TO
2026-27Proj.	191	-0.800	66	23	9.7	2.6	2.3	2.2	0.6	0.1	41.1%	3.0/7.4	89.2%	1.1/1.2	0.7
2025-26	136	-0.175	52	26	12.8	3.0	2.6	2.4	0.6	0.1	46.1%	4.3/9.3	85.5%	1.1/1.3	0.8
2024-25	263	-0.494	71	20	7.2	1.9	2.2	1.5	0.7	0.2	40.6%	2.4/6.0	96.6%	0.4/0.4	0.5
2023-24	243	-0.609	61	18	8.0	2.3	2.0	1.8	0.3	0.1	40.2%	2.6/6.4	92.9%	0.4/0.5	0.3
2022-23	-	-	5	12	5.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	0.8	0.0	40.9%	1.8/4.4	100.0%	0.4/0.4	0.0
2021-22	-	-	6	10	4.2	1.2	1.2	0.7	0.0	0.0	32.5%	1.3/4.0	42.9%	0.3/0.7	0.3

Rank, Value and colours start with 2023-24, the first season on our board; earlier seasons show ESPN's box scores.

Category profile · 2026-27

PTS

9.7#185 of 213-0.72

3PM

2.6#53 of 2130.46

REB

2.3#207 of 213-0.94

AST

2.2#162 of 213-0.56

STL

0.6#199 of 213-0.54

BLK

0.1#203 of 213-0.85

FG%

41.1%3.0/7.4#188 of 213-0.50

FT%

89.2%1.1/1.2#117 of 2130.00

TO

0.7#11 of 2130.67

Rank among rotation players (20+ minutes, 20+ games). Colour is the value in the category, as in Rankings.

Team role · Cleveland Cavaliers

No. 2 at SG for the Cleveland Cavaliers, behind Donovan Mitchell. 183 minutes a night of the 2025-26 rotation left, most of it Darius Garland, De'Andre Hunter, and Keon Ellis; Peyton Watson is the arrival projected for the most minutes (31).

SG

SF

Left since 2025-26

Darius Garland30 min → LAC
De'Andre Hunter26 min → SAC
Keon EllisSigned by BKN Jul 625 min → BKN
Max StrusAcquired by LAC Aug 2024 min → LAC
Dean WadeSigned by PHI Jul 622 min → PHI
Dennis SchroderAcquired by CHA Aug 2021 min → CHA
Lonzo Ball21 min
Larry Nance Jr.Signed by IND Jul 913 min → IND
Minutes a night183

Arrived

Peyton WatsonTraded by DEN Aug 2030 min from DEN
Meleek ThomasSigned Jul 1new
Mario HezonjaSigned Jul 31new
Khalifa DiopSigned Sep 2new
Ernest Udeh Jr.Signed Jul 1new

Depth chart from ESPN. Who left and arrived: last season's box scores against today's roster; how and when: ESPN's transaction feed, where it lists the move. Minutes are last season's, per game. Cleveland Cavaliers depth chart

Season	Team	GP	MIN	PTS	3PM	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FGM/FGA	FT%	FTM/FTA	TO
2025-26	CLE	52	26.5	12.8	3.0	2.6	2.4	0.6	0.1	46.2%	4.3/9.3	84.6%	1.1/1.3	0.8
2024-25	CLE	71	19.7	7.2	1.9	2.2	1.5	0.7	0.2	40.0%	2.4/6.0	100.0%	0.4/0.4	0.5
2023-24	CLE	61	17.5	8.0	2.3	2.0	1.8	0.3	0.1	40.6%	2.6/6.4	80.0%	0.4/0.5	0.3
2022-23	CLE	5	11.8	5.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	0.8	0.0	40.9%	1.8/4.4	100.0%	0.4/0.4	0.0
2021-22	MEM	6	9.7	4.2	1.2	1.2	0.7	0.0	0.0	32.5%	1.3/4.0	42.9%	0.3/0.7	0.3
2020-21	MIL	30	7.8	3.0	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.0	45.8%	1.1/2.4	100.0%	0.1/0.1	0.3

Box-score averages from ESPN.

Sam Merrill in fantasy basketball

The outlook above is written from our 2026-27 projection and his recent seasons, and changes with every projection run. His Value and ranks are the same numbers Rankings shows.