NBA Executive States There Are ‘No Excuses’ for Cleveland Cavaliers Not to Make NBA Finals Next Season

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the heavy favorite to reach the NBA Finals next season since Indiana Pacers guard  Tyrese Haliburton  won’t play and Boston Celtics forward  Jayson Tatum could miss the entire campaign as well. 

Haliburton and Tatum are recovering from Achilles tears. The Pacers have already ruled Haliburton out for the 2025-26 campaign.

The Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the East last season. They swept the Miami Heat in the first round of the postseason but lo st to Haliburton and the Pacers in the second round in five games, losing Games 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the best-of-seven series.

The East is Cleveland’s to lose next season with Haliburton out and Tatum most likely sidelined. If the Cavaliers don’t win the conference, one NBA executive told DallasHoopsJournal that he believes president of basketball operations Koby Altman should “blow up the roster” next offseason.

“If they can’t win the East while Tyrese and Tatum are out, just blow up the roster,” the NBA executive said. “Because if they can’t win the conference with those two guys out, they won’t win it the following season when they’re back. Next season is do-or-die for this core.”

The Cavaliers’ core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland is talen ted, but they haven’t gotten past the second round of the postseason together. If Cleveland doesn’t make the NBA Finals next season, big changes could be coming next offseason in The Land.

“They have to make the NBA Finals next year,” the NBA executive said. “There are no excuses. I don’t see one team in the East better than them with Tyrese and Tatum out. I think they’re better than New York. If they don’t win the East next season, Koby and Dan (Gilbert) should blow it up and start over because Tyrese and Tatum will be back in 2026.

“They can get a huge haul for Donovan and Jarrett and just build for the future around Evan. They’ll probably get expiring contracts for Darius.”

The Cavaliers traded Isaac Okoro to the Chicago Bulls for Lonzo Ball, re-signed Sam Merrill and signed Larry Nance Jr. this offseason. Ty Jerome left Cleveland for the Memphis Grizzlies, who traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic.

It will be fascinating to see how Cleveland does in 2025-26.