Brian Windhorst: Cavaliers Trying to Open Up a 'Five-Year' Run

Following their elimination at the hands of the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs, the future of the Cleveland Cavaliers was thrown into question. That loss marked their third exit before the Conference Finals in a row, one for every year since they traded for All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell.

Pundits and even fans were questioning if the Cavs should blow it up, or, at the least, trade parts of their core four in pursuit of a possibly more harmonious playoff roster. The reasoning behind it was sound — this team has proven in the past three years that it's missing something that's holding it back from reaching the pinnacle, even if that something might just be sustained health throughout the postseason.

At this point in the offseason, it seems that Cleveland has no plans to blow up their core, even in pursuit of a game-changing all-time great like LeBron James. With two members of their "Big 4" just 25 or under, and the "elder statesman" of the group just 28, the Cavs appear content to see if internal development and increased chemistry between their primary options, and with second-year head coach Kenny Atkinson's system, can push this team over the hump.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are committed to their core for the foreseeable future

The Eastern Conference is projected to be particularly weak next season, with the Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton and the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum out for the entire campaign due to injury, and Damian Lillard now gone from the Milwaukee Bucks. This leaves the door open for the Cavaliers to run it back with slight improvements on the margins while retaining their status as a contender.

According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Cleveland isn't just confident in its ability to compete for a title next season, though. They're gearing up to be championship threats for the next half-decade or so:

"The Cavs are making maneuvers to open up a five-year run here. Don't hold me to five, but they're trying to make a run with this group... They believe this is a championship roster. I believe this team has the core of a championship roster. There's a few things they need to improve on, but I think what they're doing is they're trying to set a four or five-year window here where they can go for it... The hard part now for [Koby Altman] is going to be keeping this team together and making the fine-tuning moves to win the whole thing."