Cavaliers' Star Duo Cement Spot Among East's Best

The Cleveland Cavaliers made their presence felt across last regular season on their breakout to becoming the top-seed in the East, finding their way to 60 wins on the year for the first time in 15 seasons.

And despite having a less-than-stellar result in the postseason amid their disappointing second-round exit vs. the Indiana Pacers, heading into next year, the top of this Cavaliers roster has the tools to get right back to the peak of the conference, specifically through the guidance of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who looked primed to be some of the best talents in the East once again.

NBA.com's Shaun Powell recently stacked up the top ten players in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2025-26 campaign, where each of Mobley and Mitchell found their way within the mix.

Mitchell navigated all the way to the third spot in the conference, behind only Jalen Brunson and Giannis Antetokounmpo, following up his standout All-NBA First-Team appearance.

"He made the All-NBA First Team last season, which alone would catapult him to this list," Powell wrote. "Mitchell also qualifies as a transformational player for the second time, doing so once with Utah and now with the contending Cavs. He’s a good rebounder for a guard, distributes well and is a solid enough defender to qualify as a two-way player. As a shooter, he fluctuates from good to average, and his scoring has dipped for three straight years (from 28.3 ppg in 2022-23 to 24 last season). But his impact rarely wavers from game to game, and opposing defenses are always on high alert. That’s especially true in clutch situations, in which Mitchell is constantly aggressive (his 88 clutch points ranked 15th overall last season)."

As for Mobley, even with a Defensive Player of the Year in the rear view mirror, it wasn't quite enough to shoot up as high as top-three, but he still came in as the seventh-best player in the conference.

"As the reigning Kia Defensive Player of the Year and an All-NBA selection in 2024-25, Mobley is trending north and perhaps is still a few seasons away from approaching his peak. His growth is among the reasons why the Cavs are a strong contender, both last season and in 2025-26 … and maybe for the near future as well. His defensive instincts are rare, making him capable of guarding multiple positions and seldom getting mismatched. Last season, opponents shot 44.5% when Mobley was the closest defender (the expected percentage on those shots was 47.7%) and contested 10.4 shots per game, which was among the NBA’s best. He’s still developing offensively, yet does have a 41-point game and is a career 54.8% shooter."