CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs enter the 2025-26 season no longer as a feel-good story or an up-and-coming contender. They’re the defending No. 1 seed in the East, powered by a historic offense and a head coach who’s learned how to unlock every piece of his team. The expectations now? Championship or bust.
The days of “maybe next year” are over. After a 64-win season and a summer of recalibration, the Cavs have built, developed, and sustained. Now comes the test of how far that foundation can carry them. Cleveland is trying to prove it belongs among the NBA’s elite.
As the new season begins, here are five bold predictions for a team ready to prove that the fourth year of the Core Four will be the one to bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
1. Evan Mobley will finish top 5 in MVP voting
Evan Mobley has spent his entire career quietly redefining what it means to be a modern big. He’s been a Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Star, and an All-NBA selection before his 25th birthday. And yet, the leap that’s coming next might be the one that finally cements him as the engine of a title contender.
What’s next is assertiveness and the confidence to dominate possessions. Kenny Atkinson’s offense gives Mobley a new kind of space, both literal and mental. He’ll have the freedom to read, react, and impose.
The Cavs want him orchestrating from the defensive glass to initiating offense. The more he touches the ball, the more Cleveland’s offense breathes. This summer, Mobley’s further improved his ball handling, his 3-point shot and his confidence to take over in any capacity on the floor, becoming a truly complete player.
His defense will remain elite, even as Victor Wembanyama inevitably claims this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award — the latest chapter in what will be a decade-long duel between two generational rim protectors.
But it’s Mobley’s offensive control that will push him into the MVP conversation.
Cleveland can’t just win with Donovan Mitchell carrying the scoring load. To reach the Finals for the first time since 2018, Mobley has to be the Cavs’ best player. This is the year he becomes that.
2. De’Andre Hunter will keep the starting small forward spot
Every team searching for a title has a “fit” player, someone who doesn’t just fill a role but sharpens an identity. De’Andre Hunter is that player for Cleveland.
When the Cavs acquired Hunter before last year’s trade deadline, they envisioned a two-way wing who could finally help them match up with the East’s most physical teams like New York, Boston and Orlando. What they got was a confident scorer and positional defender who looks far more natural at the small forward spot than the power forward minutes he logged last season.
By the time Max Strus returns from foot surgery, the conversation will ignite: who deserves the starting small forward spot? By then, the answer will already be clear.
Hunter’s size and midrange polish give the Cavs something they’ve lacked: a reliable option when plays break down. His ability to create a shot late in the clock takes pressure off Mitchell, and his comfort attacking mismatches keeps the offense balanced.
Defensively, Hunter allows Strus to slide into more natural matchups at shooting guard when he returns, giving Atkinson flexibility and matchup versatility the Cavs didn’t have last season.
When Darius Garland returns from toe surgery and resumes command of the offense, Hunter’s timing and shot readiness will turn slivers of daylight into clean looks.
By the time Strus is cleared, the Cavs will have something too effective to mess with. The starting five — Garland, Mitchell, Hunter, Mobley, and Jarrett Allen — will be the version that finally looks built for June.
Hunter was brought in to help Cleveland break through the Eastern Conference semifinals ceiling. This year, he’ll get the chance to show he was the missing piece all along.
3. Lonzo Ball will play 50 games and be healthy for the playoffs
Lonzo Ball’s story has been written too many times in the past tense. This season, it finally shifts to the present.
The Cavs traded for Ball knowing the risk. They also knew the reward, and few guards in the league could unlock their offense quite like him.
Ball hasn’t played more than 35 games in a season since 2021, but the Cavs didn’t trade Isaac Okoro for him expecting 82. They’re betting on 50 with the goal of 60. Cleveland has a plan to manage his body, exclude back-to-backs, and ensure he’s available when it counts most: the playoffs.
In just a handful of preseason possessions in the finale against the Pistons, Ball reminded everyone what makes him special: the tempo, the instant reads, the unteachable vision that moves defenses like chess pieces.
When he’s active, the Cavs play faster, freer, more instinctively. Kickahead passes fly before wings even realize they’re open. Transition turns into weaponry. And Garland, Mitchell, and Mobley all benefit from having another connector who can see two plays ahead.
Lonzo’s availability won’t define the regular season, but it will define the postseason. If he’s healthy in April, Cleveland’s ceiling rises by an entire tier.
4. Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade will define the Cavs’ depth
Ball may be the most intriguing addition, but the regular-season X-factors will be Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade.
Tyson, entering his sophomore season, is no longer the wide-eyed rookie running at 100 miles per hour with no direction. Every move he makes is purposeful and curated under the watchful eye of Atkinson.
Tyson will be the defensive disruptor the Cavs lost when they traded Okoro, but with a more refined offensive palette. With Strus sidelined early, the former Cal standout will get real minutes guarding the opposing team’s best wing while serving as a secondary playmaker to keep Mitchell off the ball.
His handle, court vision, and length make him the kind of two-way player that’s no longer just filling minutes.
Dean Wade’s challenge is different. It’s not about ability, it’s about audacity. His defense has never been in question; his confidence has. When he shoots without hesitation, Cleveland’s offense stretches in ways few lineups can match. When he doesn’t, possessions shrink.
Atkinson has made it clear: reluctance is inexcusable. The Cavs want Wade setting a career high in attempts per 36 minutes. They know the shots will fall. They just need him to take them.
With Larry Nance Jr. providing frontcourt insurance, Wade’s place in the rotation will depend on his shot and his mindset. It’s a contract year, and the Cavs will need his best version to keep pace with the size and length of the East’s elite.
5. The Cavs will win 58 games and return to the NBA Finals
The regular season won’t be perfect. Garland and Strus will need time to re-integrate, and Mitchell and Ball’s workload will be closely managed. But if Cleveland stays healthy down the stretch, the ingredients for a Finals run are all there, led by continuity and chemistry.
Atkinson’s system, built on pace, passing, and positional interchangeability, is the perfect complement to a roster this deep.
The Cavs will rank top five in defensive rating again and coming off the heels of a historic offensive season, the difference will be how quickly they turn stops into scoring.
Their biggest threats loom large: Orlando’s length, Atlanta’s depth and size and New York’s toughness. But this Cavs team isn’t built to avoid the East’s bullies anymore; they’ve been built to beat them.
Fifty-eight wins, another No. 1 seed, and a trip back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2018 — this time on the back of growth, not superstardom.
Because the Cavs have spent years chasing potential. This season, they’ll finally live in it.
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