The 2024-2025 NBA season is here! We analyze the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
End 2023-24
Off-season moves
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Additions: Head coach Kenny Atkinson, Jaylon Tyson, JT Thor, Luke Travers
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Deductions: Head coach JB Bickerstaff, Marcus Morris, Damian Jones, Isaiah Mobley
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Complete roster
The big question: can they do that? Finally become more than the sum of its parts?
Zoom out and the Cavs’ recent resume looks downright impressive. For the first time since the departure of LeBron James, there are consecutive playoffs; the franchise’s first playoff series win without James since then 1993; forming a core that includes three All-Star cornerstones, plus a fourth who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting before turning 22.
But you don’t fire the coach who achieved that relative success because you’re satisfied with it. You do it because you expect more: more offensive synergy, more paths to Ws, more than the fourth seed, and more than one series win in which you barely managed a point per possession against postseason newcomers. That’s clearly what Cavs brass expects from Atkinson, fresh off stints assisting Tyronn Lue and Steve Kerr after the Nets’ rebuild — and from a core that general manager Koby Altman has just made the effort to put in place .
“We want to join the best teams in the NBA and ultimately compete for championships,” Altman said in a team release announcing Donovan Mitchell’s extension.
There is reasonable reason to expect more. Last year’s Cavs finished fourth despite Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley missing 84 games, and despite the trio and Jarrett Allen playing just 392 minutes together. Better health could help fuel a return to the rhythm the group found in 2022-23, when Cleveland outscored opponents by 8.9 points per 100 possessions in their minutes.
A recovery would be particularly welcome for Garland, who suffered early hamstring and neck injuries before being completely derailed by a broken jaw that left him unable to eat solid food for more than a month. By getting him back to All-Star form, Atkinson could go a long way in ironing out some wrinkles in the Cavs’ offense.
The half-empty view would suggest that those wrinkles represent a naturally occurring byproduct of the fabric of Cleveland’s construction: that a team was built around two smaller guards who were at their best on the ball, and two big men who operated at their best at the elbows . , will ultimately prove insufficiently versatile to topple the best opponents they face. To wit: Over the past two seasons, the Cavs were 57-12 against teams under .500, and 41-53 against opponents with records at or above .500, and 48-11 against teams with an efficiency differential in the bottom 10, and 20 -31 against teams in the top 10, according to Cleaning the Glass.
By expanding Mitchell, Mobley and Allen and sticking with not moving Garland, Altman and Co. took a more optimistic position. Perhaps growth will come in the form of Mobley expanding his game to the perimeter to take the pressure off the offense (or, for that matter, Allen resuming the three-point shooting project he started under Atkinson in Brooklyn). Maybe it’s Mitchell and Garland finding more profitable ways to coexist (more small screenings, please).
Perhaps even more aggressively spreading out the core four is to field more lineups with one guard, one big and three wings – some combination of Max Strus, Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Dean Wade, Sam Merrill, Isaac Okoro or rookie Jaylon Tyson – to maximize Cleveland’s space, shooting and playmaking juice more often. Perhaps, with Atkinson offering a new set of eyes and ideas, it will be all of the above, resulting in a version of the Cavs that combines an elite defense with finally realized offensive potential – a team that could legitimately make the conference finals.
But what if it isn’t? Then it might be time to change some of those parts, looking for a bigger sum.
At best
Better health, Atkinson’s creativity and a lead from Mobley give Cleveland the foundation for a top-10 offense. Three Cavs make the Eastern All-Star team as they climb into a top two spot and get a chance to face a play-in team instead of eliminating it in the 4-on-5 competition. Mitchell puts together a stellar postseason to push the Cavs to the Eastern Conference finals and gives all parties involved a reason to keep the faith.
When everything falls apart
The core four continues to feel shaky, Atkinson’s adjustments be damned, and the team continues to perform better when it’s Mitchell-en-Allen or Garland-en-Mobley. For the third year in a row, none of the potential fifth starters prove reliable in a postseason context. Mobley still doesn’t look like an offensive center. Struggling to stay above the play-in mix, the Cavs are bullied into another early exit, leading to renewed calls to break the core, ending a well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing era.
Fantasy twist
Mobley’s effort and performance have been consistent through his first three seasons in the league – nothing crazy, but just enough to see the potential. The 23-year-old is about to leave.
Atkinson says he will use Mobley more as a playmaker, and he has worked all season to expand his range. A breakout is coming and Mobley will be well worth the price of admission as an early fourth-rounder.
The main question mark is Garland. Injuries limited Garland to just 57 games last season and his production dipped in almost every category. Assuming last year was an outlier, his ADP reached a low enough point in the sixth round that I would buy back in. — Then Titus
Schedule 2024-25
About. You get there with one less serious injury from last year’s team; another significant improvement over Garland, Mobley or some other younger piece probably does that too. I’m not sure Cleveland will be able to compete with the big boys in May, but I think they’ll roll up a lot of W’s heading into the spring.
