NBA Insider Makes Bold Claim on Cavaliers' Future

With the Cleveland Cavaliers' latest extension of president Koby Altman to cap off the latest major move of this offseason, the messaging has been simple from the franchise across the past few months: they're confident in this core and ready to make another championship push with their 64-win core from last season.

However, with every main component of this Cavaliers core now locked in and intact for the next few years, it also puts some significant pressure on Cleveland's group moving forward to make this cast pan out, and ultimately reach a championship.

Though if things don't end up in their favor for the next couple of years, and the Cavaliers see similar shortcomings to what was seen during this past postseason, that's when the landscape starts to get unpredictable.

ESPN insider Brian Windhorst recently appeared on ESPN Cleveland to dive into some of the expectations for the Cavaliers next season and onwards, and it was clear there was one overarching goal that will define the future of this core: it's championship-or-bust.

"Yes, absolutely," Windhorst said. "If you're a second apron team, which the Cavs entered into with their eyes wide open– and not just with Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell's contracts, but also trading for DeAndre Hunter– they knew that was going to take them deeper into the apron... Whether you say the words championship or bust or not, that's what's happening."

"They're going to go for it. And, look, if they don't win it in a couple of years, and they're in the second apron in a couple of years, they'll have to retrofit. They'll have to move around. What Dan [Gilbert] is basically saying here is, 'I believe in Koby [Altman] as the guy to make the decisions going into that period."

After surging onto the scene last year as a 60-plus win team for the first time since 2009-10, the championship hopes are front and center for this group. The latest extension of Altman fortifies that confidence for the near future, as this Cavs brass sees a true contending core led by Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and the rest of the crew making the wheels turn last season.

Sep 14, 2022; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman speaks to the media during an introductory press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Time will tell if it works in Cleveland's favor, but in the meantime, they'll have the primary pieces to the machine set in store for the years ahead.

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