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Former Cavaliers Center Says A 70-Win Season Wouldn’t Matter
Jan 8, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and guard Darius Garland (10) celebrate after Mitchell made a three point basket during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Former Cavaliers Center Says A 70-Win Season Wouldn’t Matter

Originally posted on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI
By Jared Koch  |  Last updated Aug 13, 2025 2:29 PM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers enter this next season with some sky-high expectations after fizzling out in last year's playoffs.

But really, that pressure extends further into the fold for Cleveland come postseason time, rather than what's to come throughout the regular season set to kick off in just under two weeks. Following a 64-win season and first-place finish in the Eastern Conference, no one's doubting what the Cavaliers could have in store from October to April– it's more so what they can put together in May and June.

Even in the event the Cavaliers were to win an astounding 70 games on the year, in the words of former Cavaliers center turned analyst, Kendrick Perkins "no one's going to give a damn."

“And they should be the favorites, right?” Perkins said of the Cavaliers." “And that’s why I said, unfortunately, whatever they do in the regular season, they could win 70 games; no one’s going to give a damn. They’re going to be– we’re going to evaluate them, what they do in the postseason– because, again, a Donovan Mitchell-led team has never been to a conference finals.”

A bold claim for Perkins, especially when considering the implications of a 70-win regular season, something that's only been done twice throughout NBA history (the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors). If Cleveland were to rattle off six more wins than last season and join that club, it'd be hard to ignore.

But from a big picture perspective, all eyes will be focused on what the Cavaliers can do once put in a seven-game series to see just how they rebound from last season's calamity vs. the Indiana Pacers, and the two years before that. As noted, Donovan Mitchell has yet to make that long-awaited stride into the conference finals either in Cleveland or with the Utah Jazz, making this season a major "prove-it" campaign to make that happen.

Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Without that jump into being the one to come out of the East, that'd make it a swing and a miss for the Mitchell-led Cavaliers for a fourth-straight season, and if that transpired, it'd be difficult to see the Cleveland run it back with a similar core without a big shake-up for another year.

Time will tell how this year pans out for the Cavaliers, but it's become apparent that the pressure for them to be the ones to come out of the East has turned up to ten.

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This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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