The Cleveland Cavaliers could be in store for a magical season. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the heavy favorite to reach the NBA Finals next season since Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton won’t play and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum could miss the entire campaign as well.   

Haliburton and Tatum are recovering from Achilles tears. 

Greg Swartz, who covers the Cavaliers for Bleacher Report, is very high on Cleveland. He believes the Cavaliers "should be the favorites to come out of the East and the biggest challenger to the Oklahoma City Thunder's dreams of a repeat."

The Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season. They swept the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs but lost to the Pacers in the second round in five games, losing Games 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the best-of-seven series.  

Cleveland's All-Star core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland is talented, but they haven’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs together.

If the Cavaliers don’t make the NBA Finals next season, major changes could be coming next offseason in The Land.  

“If they can’t win the East while Tyrese and Tatum are out, just blow up the roster,” an NBA executive told DallasHoopsJournal. "Because if they can’t win the conference with those two guys out, they won’t win it the following season when they’re back. Next season is do-or-die for this core.

“They have to make the NBA Finals next year. There are no excuses. I don’t see one team in the East better than them with Tyrese and Tatum out. I think they’re better than New York. If they don’t win the East next season, Koby (Altman) and Dan (Gilbert) should blow it up and start over because Tyrese and Tatum will be back in 2026."

The Cavaliers were busy this offseason, trading Isaac Okoro to the Chicago Bulls for Lonzo Ball, re-signing Sam Merrill after losing Ty Jerome to the Memphis Grizzlies and signing Larry Nance Jr., who has played for the franchise before.

Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson will likely start Ball, Mitchell, De'Andre Hunter, Mobley and Allen to begin next season. Garland will replace Ball in the starting lineup once he recovers from his foot injury.