Could the Cleveland Cavaliers add another piece before the start of the 2025-26 NBA season?
The Cleveland Cavaliers enjoyed a brilliant regular season last year, but they were dealt another crushing playoff exit, falling to the Indiana Pacers in the second round.
It's a good news, bad news situation. While the bad news is that the Cavaliers still haven't proven they can make a deep playoff run with this core, the good news is the Eastern Conference is as weak as its ever been with both the Pacers and Boston Celtics dealing with key injuries and significant offseason subtractions.
Meanwhile, Cleveland swung a trade to acquire Lonzo Ball and also landed Larry Nance Jr. in free agency, so while other teams in the East have been losing pieces, the Cavs have been adding.
But could the Cavaliers potentially bring in another player to fill out the roster before the 2025-26 campaign begins? NBA insider Jake Fischer dropped some news in that department recently, and it isn't exactly exciting for Cleveland fans.
Cleveland Cavaliers guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images."The Cavaliers, to my understanding, have only really been looking to add a player as a 14th roster spot if it's on a non-guaranteed contract," Fischer said.
Given Cleveland's financial situation, this should not come as much of a surprise, and it's not like a 14th man would ever get that much playing time in meaningful games anyway.
The Cavs will likely head into the coming season as currently constructed, and that's perfectly fine. The quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen should be enough to finally make a deep playoff run, and auxiliary pieces like De'Andre Hunter — who will be entering his first full season with the club — and Ball should help tremendously.
The Cavaliers finished with the No. 1 seed in the East last season, but it became clear in the playoffs that they still had some noticeable deficiencies. Injuries played a role in Cleveland's postseason demise, but it also seemed fairly obvious that the Cavs simply weren't seasoned enough.
Will the Cavaliers actually be able to get over the hump this time around? Mitchell himself has never made it to the conference finals, so it would be a first for him. But based on the landscape around Cleveland in the East, this may represent the best chance Mitchell has ever had.