Latest News About Sam Merrill

Here’s the latest on Sam Merrill based on recent reporting up to May 2026.

• Injury/availability notes: In May 2026, Merrill was dealing with a left hamstring issue during the Cavaliers’ playoff series, with reports indicating he was questionable or unavailable for several games. He was later listed as officially cleared for Game 3 after missing Game 2 due to the hamstring [source coverage around Cavaliers playoffs, May 2026]. This context suggests his season was affected by the hamstring injury during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Detroit.[1][2]

• Contract context: Merrill signed a four-year, $38 million contract with the Cavaliers in the 2025 offseason, setting expectations for his role as a sharpshooter and depth guard for the team.[1]

• Game-by-game notes: In a sequence around early May 2026, he was ruled out for Game 2 of the series due to the hamstring injury, then was listed as questionable for Game 3, and later was cleared for Game 3 after positive trends in testing. There were also mentions of him contributing solid scoring bursts earlier in the season, reinforcing his role as a reliable three-point threat when healthy.[3][1]

• Personal/alternate reporting: A CBS Sports report from January 2026 noted Merrill missing multiple games for personal reasons, with prior right-hand soreness cited as a possible factor for some of those absences; the team’s public updates did not always clarify timing or resolution of his injury status.[2]

If you’d like, I can pull the most current game-by-game status and provide a short summary of his playoff impact, or assemble a quick timeline of his 2025-26 season injuries and returns with sources.