Cavs projected to finish with less wins, but East’s top seed

Kevin Pelton of ESPN came out with his latest round of win projections, and to no one’s surprise (except maybe the folks in New York), the Cavaliers are No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.

Interestingly, Pelton has the Cavs pegged at just 50.1 wins, which undoubtedly would not be enough to win the East. But he’s playing it safe, as he explained in his column.

“The Cavaliers are probably due some regression to the mean after jumping from 48 wins to 64 last season,” he wrote. “Part of that relates to health, and Cleveland already has two starters (All-Star guard Darius Garland and wing Max Strus) sidelined to start the season, forcing Kenny Atkinson deeper into his perimeter rotation than he had to go last season.

“The Cavaliers are still a strong pick to claim the East’s top seed but perhaps with a lower win total than in 2024-25.”

Most betting lines have the Cavs finishing with around 56-57 wins. I have them at 59.