Former NBA stars speak out on recent Cleveland Cavaliers struggles

The struggles seemingly may never end for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After another disappointing loss on the road, the Cavaliers' 2025-26 record has fallen to 15-13, placing them as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference.

On Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Cavaliers travelled to the United Center in Chicago to take on the Bulls, and with another lackluster all-around performance, they fell, 127-111. It was another game spotlighted by terrible shooting, as they shot 48.3% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc, all while being outrebounded by three.

But, through the struggles, many analysts and former NBA players have come out in support of the Cavaliers. A lot, including former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and journeyman Chandler Parsons, believe that the Cavaliers are just getting tested.

“At the end of the day, this is still a top 10 offensive and defensive team," Parsons said. "They haven’t even scratched the surface of how good they can be."

The Cavaliers currently rank towards the bottom of the statistical leaders in the league in field goal percentage and three-point percentage, but are towards the top in points, steals and blocks per game. As of recently, it's just been putting all of these attributes together and playing hard.

They've made a few lineup changes as well, which is going to impact the play and chemistry on the court, moving forward De'Andre Hunter to the bench. The 6-foot-6 winger hasn't been playing up to the level that head coach Kenny Atkinson wants him to. He's not shooting well and hasn't been able to crash the glass at a consistent rate.

But again, these are just opportunities for the team to weed out the issues before it matters the most in June.

"They’re getting all of the tests that they could want," Williams said. "This is a good thing for them.”

For a team that was projected to be competing for an NBA championship, these early losses are going to shock many. However, when taking a step back and analyzing the situation, both Parsons and Williams are on the right page.

If the Cavaliers do want to be a real contender, getting these bumps in the road out of the way now and learning what not to do in the playoffs is important. Cleveland has a ton of talent; if anything, they can attempt to make a few trades towards the NBA Trade Deadline to bolster the team's areas of weakness.

The Cavaliers are now preparing for a rematch against the Bulls, which is set to take place on Friday, Dec. 19, with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m. The Bulls and Cavaliers, following Wednesday's result, are now level on the season series at 1-1.