Heading into the new NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be expected to contend for a championship. Kenny Atkinson’s team was one of the best regular-season rosters during the 2024-25 campaign, but fell short during the postseason.
This summer, Koby Altman has made some key alterations to Cleveland’s roster. In comes Lonzo Ball, Larry Nance Jr and draft addition Tyrese Proctor. And out goes Ty Jerome and Isaac Okoro.
In an August 1 power rankings for ClutchPoints, NBA Insider Brett Siegel detailed why the Cavaliers must prove the current core is capable of contending for a championship this season.
“There is no reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn’t be the top team in the Eastern Conference yet again during the 2025-26 season,” Siegel wrote. “But Darius Garland will likely miss the start of the season, which is why the Cavs brought in Lonzo Ball at the expense of Isaac Okoro.”
Siegel continued.
“… They are the only second-apron team in the NBA and are limited in terms of what they can actually do without tearing down their core. This is the most important season in Cavaliers’ history, as falling short of the Eastern Conference Finals will result in major roster changes.”
The Cavaliers have all the necessary ingredients to become a championship team. However, Atkinson must ensure he finds a balance between offense and defense. Furthermore, Cleveland has to find a way to up its production during the postseason.
Cavaliers Must Improve Defense
John Schuhmann of NBA.com has raised a question about the Cavaliers’ defense. The analyst noted that Cleveland’s current roster must prove it can be a top-5 rearguard in the NBA.
“The East is seemingly the Cavs’ to lose, but they need to be just a little bit better defensively, both so they can increase their chances of reaching the Finals and because they can’t count on the shooting being so good for a second straight season,” Schuhmann wrote in his power rankings article.
“…Both Ball and Nance should help them on that end of the floor, with the former also able to get them more opportunities in transition. Ball’s 6.4 pass-ahead passes per game over his career rank second (to James Harden’s 6.7) among all players over the last eight years, according to Second Spectrum tracking.”
With Evan Mobley, De’Andre Hunter and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers have three incredibly talented and versatile defenders to operate as anchors. However, everyone on the roster must play their part.
Cavaliers Expected to Dominate the East
In a recent article for ESPN, Kevin Pelton explained why the Cavaliers should emerge as the dominant team in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ll see how much the Cavaliers get from Lonzo Ball, limited to 35 games last season by wrist injuries after 2½ years off the court due to his left knee. Ball was a low-cost pickup for Cleveland to help replace Ty Jerome, lost to help manage the Cavaliers’ sizeable tax bill. So too was bringing back Larry Nance Jr. as a third center. Despite the loss of Jerome, Cleveland looks like the favorite to win the East.”
It’s worth remembering that Cleveland also dominated the regular season in 2024-25 before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Atkinson and the coaching staff must find some balance between how they approach the regular season and how they ramp up during the postseason. Only then can the Cavaliers finally add another championship banner to the rafters.
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