The Cleveland Cavaliers were the second-best team in the NBA for the first 82 games of the season. In games 83-91, they proved to still be a long way away from being a legit title contender.
They now find themselves in a tough spot as a franchise. They have built the foundation of their team around the core four of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Now, for the third straight season, that group was unable to get out of the second round of the playoffs.
Something has to change on this Cavs team to take them over the top, but what?
Many Cavaliers fans are calling for the team to move on from Allen and possibly Garland, but general manager Koby Altman has different thoughts. On Monday, he said that he is going to keep the core group together and run it back next year.
On Tuesday, ESPN Insider Brian Windhorst joined Cleveland’s “Really Big Show” and shared his thoughts on the situation.
“You never know what happens with the phone ringing… There is going to be a lot of things that happen in June and July, and I don’t know what windows might open. There might be a window that opens for them to break up the core four, but I don’t think that’s what their goal is.”
“That’s what it looks like, but you never know with the phone ringing. I do think there will be a fair amount of big name movement this offseason,” - @WindhorstESPN on Cavs keeping the Core 4 pic.twitter.com/Gh7cANdDKT
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 20, 2025
It will be tough for this team to add pieces, it will be tough for them to make moves outside of moving their big-name players. They do not have room to make a needle-moving addition without moving one of their top-four guys.
The solution isn’t going to be an easy one, but the Cavaliers are going to have to try to shake things up. If they keep this group the same, it won’t matter what they do during the regular season, no one will have faith in them, and no other team will fear them in the playoffs.
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