Cavaliers Among Most Desperate Teams for NBA Title

After a brutal exit in last year's postseason, the stakes are high for the Cleveland Cavaliers and their NBA title hopes.

Stacked with a similar competitive core as last season, stage is set for the Cavs to have an opportunity to repeat the same regular season success they saw through the 2024-25 campaign. The core four is intact, the depth behind them remains mostly the same, if not, slightly improved, and while the coaching staff has lost a fair share of assistants, Kenny Atkinson is still leading the charge heading into his second season, gearing up for what could be this era's best opportunity to win a championship with this current core.

But for some, this year isn't just critical for the Cavaliers when it comes to their title hopes; it's borderline championship-or-bust for the season ahead.

When sorting through the most title-desperate teams in the league, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale stacked up the top five teams to fit that mold, where the Cavaliers ranked as high as the second spot in the NBA, second to only one team, that being the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Putting the Cleveland Cavaliers this high feels counterintuitive at first glance," Favale wrote. "All four of their stars are younger than 30, and Donovan Mitchell is the only one among them under team control for fewer than three years. Still, the first three seasons of the Core Four era have resulted in just two playoff-series victories. Legitimate reasons for Cleveland's early exits abound—and they're almost all related to injuries. But windows open and shut quickly in today's NBA, even when nucleuses are by and large locked up for the long term."

"Pressure in Cleveland mushrooms further when looking at its operating costs. The Cavs are the sole team in the second apron—and they're almost $20 million above the threshold. When factoring in projected luxury taxes, this roster is about to run nearly $400 million. Anything short of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance will invariably force Cleveland to recalibrate. And with Mitchell entering a contract year after this one (2027-28 player option), even that might not be enough to stave off the winds of significant change."

It's hard to believe we see this Cavaliers core back for another season if this roster winds up going south for a multitude of reasons (primarily of which revolve around the second apron), which adds even more pressure onto this year than what Cleveland may have already been facing after their second round exit to the Indiana Pacers.

May 13, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) and guard Donovan Mitchell (45) react during the second half against the Indiana Pacers in game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

That makes this season a major "prove-it" year for Cleveland. Everyone knows what this collection of players can be capable of in the regular season, as there's a possible road to an even better result than their previous 64-win season with another year of added chemistry in the mix. It's when the postseason rolls around that the Cavs need to shift that narrative.

Time will tell if the Cavs can meet those lofty expectations and defy the playoff chatter they've been dealt with. But if not, things will certainly get interesting once next summer rolls around.

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