The Cleveland Cavaliers officially came up short of their Eastern Conference Finals goals on Tuesday night as they were effectively bounced by the Indiana Pacers in five games, stamping a historic season for this franchise in the books, and now leading to some compelling questions for what's to come later this summer.
Even after a strong 60-win outing during the regular season, the various scenarios are already being drawn up as to how this roster could change heading into the coming year. Could Cleveland look to deal Darius Garland? Jarrett Allen? Perhaps something even more drastic?
In the eyes of ESPN insider Brian Windhorst, don't bet on the Cavaliers making a crazy move surrounding any of their core four pieces.
When asked during his appearance ESPN Cleveland whether he sees the Cavaliers keeping their core four pieces in the fold for next season, Windhorst doesn't see how Cleveland won't run it back with their star four-man unit.
"Yes, I don't see how the [don't] do that," Windhorst said. "I didn't think the Core Four would be back this year. So, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. I thought for sure they would break it up. So now, I don't think they'll break it up. So, now maybe we'll re-evaluate it, but that's something we're going to be talking about in the next six to eight weeks here, for sure."
"Yes, I don't see how they (don't) do that," - @WindhorstESPN on the Cavs Core 4 coming back.
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 14, 2025
Do you want to see the Core 4 back next season?
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Of course it's early in the Cavs' process of shaking out how they want their offseason to look and develop, but surrounding a big swing to send off a top, tenured starter on the roster, the landscape might be shifting to stand pat rather than to pull the trigger on anything to get someone like Allen, Garland, or even the likes of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland out of the building.
On paper, it could be a strategy that makes sense from Cleveland's perspective.
Sure, opportunities were missed throughout their five-game elimination on the floor that led to their ultimate demise, but an array of injury misfortune didn't help the situation either. Another shot at taking on the postseason come next season with a rotation hopefully in a better standing for health and availability could be the best direction on the table for this front office in the end, but of course, anything's possible in this league.
It'll be a frantic offseason across the coming weeks of drawing up what the Cavaliers could do later this summer, but for Windhorst, he sees the main four components sticking in the fold for at least one more season.
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