Donovan Mitchell and James Harden led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Offseason Recap
• Last Season: 52-30 (4th in East, lost in Eastern Conference Finals)
• Key Additions: Khalifa Diop, Mario Hezonja, Meleek Thomas, Peyton Watson
• Every Cavaliers move this offseason
Season Outlook
The Cavs are coming off their deepest playoff run of the post-LeBron era, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals before being swept by the eventual champion Knicks.
In the offseason, the Cavs kept their core four together — extending Donovan Mitchell for four years and re-signing James Harden for three years, while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen remain under contract — then added young 3-and-D wing Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with Denver to round out their starting five.
As the Cavs look to take the next step in their maturation — a first-round exit in 2023, back-to-back second-round exits in 2024 and 2025, and a conference-finals exit in 2026 — they will have the benefit of a full training camp and regular season with this core together. Last season, Harden had to learn on the fly after joining the Cavs at the trade deadline, and Watson now joins the squad ready to build off his career year in 2025-26.
Breakout Candidate: Peyton Watson
Can a player coming off a breakout season take another leap? In his final season with the Nuggets, Watson posted career-best numbers of 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 3-pointers and 0.9 steals in 29.6 minutes per game over 54 contests.
But those season-long averages only tell part of the story. In 40 games as a starter, Watson put up 17.3 points on 49.9% shooting (including 43% from 3-point range), along with 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks in 33 minutes per game.
He joins the Cavs as the final piece of the starting lineup and should draw open looks thanks to the gravity of players like Mitchell and Harden and the pick-and-roll threat of Mobley and Allen. Entering his fifth NBA season, the 24-year-old is still on the verge of entering his prime. That next step begins with this new chapter in Cleveland.
1 Number To Know
12 – The Cavs trailed 12 of their 18 playoff games by at least 10 points. That was tied for the fourth most for a team that didn’t reach the Finals in the 30 years for which we have play-by-play data.
Both in the regular season and the playoffs, the Cavs were much better in the second halves of games (plus-5.6 points per 100 possessions combined) than they were in first halves (plus-0.5), with the much bigger difference coming on offense. Almost all of their perimeter rotation players shot more effectively after halftime than they did before.
Counting the regular season and playoffs, the Cavs led the league with 21 wins after trailing by double-digits. But their record after trailing by at least 10 points (21-37, .362) tells you that it’s still much better not to fall into double-digit deficits in the first place, and they should hope to be a better first-half team this season.
— John Schuhmann
5 Must-See Matchups
• Nov. 6: Sixers vs. Cavaliers – LeBron James returns to Cleveland for the first time wearing a 76ers jersey after a potential Cavs reunion did not materialize this summer. These teams also meet on the opening night of the season in Philadelphia, but this matchup in Cleveland also counts toward Emirates NBA Cup Group Play.
• Nov. 7: Knicks vs. Cavaliers – Last spring, the Knicks ended the Cavs’ playoff run in Cleveland by completing a sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals. The defending champs return to Cleveland for the first time since that series.
• Dec. 31: Clippers vs. Cavaliers – Darius Garland, who played his first six-plus seasons with the Cavs, returns to Cleveland for the first time since last year’s trade-deadline deal with the Clippers to acquire Harden.
• Jan. 18: Cavaliers vs. Pistons – In an MLK Day matinee, the Cavs visit the Pistons in a rematch of last year’s seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinals, which ended with a blowout Cavs win on the road in Detroit.
• Jan. 29: Cavaliers vs. Raptors – This Rivals Week clash is another rematch of a seven-game series from last year’s playoffs. The Cavs ousted the Raptors in the first round behind Jarrett Allen’s massive Game 7 double-double (22 pts, 19 reb). Now, Cleveland will face a new-look Toronto squad featuring a returning Kawhi Leonard.
> Complete Regular Season Schedule
Preseason Storylines
After shaking up their roster at the trade deadline last year, the Cavs will have a full training camp and preseason with their squad together entering the 2026-27 season.
This will allow more time for the Harden-Mitchell dynamic to develop in the backcourt, provide more opportunities to refine chemistry and timing on pick-and-rolls with the bigs, and give Watson a full camp to learn coach Kenny Atkinson’s systems and figure out how he best fits alongside his new teammates.
Plus, after losing players like Dean Wade, Max Strus, Dennis Schröder, Keon Ellis and Larry Nance Jr. during the offseason, the Cavs can establish their bench rotations with returning reserves and new faces on the roster such as Hezonja, Diop and Thomas.
