Cavaliers No Longer Considered Elite NBA Team: 'May Be Getting Worse'

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey no longer considers the Cleveland Cavaliers an elite NBA team. 

Bailey had the Cavaliers No. 9 in his preseason power rankings, but with Cleveland being at 4-4 through eight games, the NBA analyst dropped the Wine and Gold to No. 14. 

Cleveland made the conference finals last season for the first time without LeBron James on the roster since 1992. The Cavaliers should have won Game 1 in New York against the Knicks at MSG.

Trailing by 22 points with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the Knicks had Jalen Brunson go at James Harden on defense and it got ugly for Harden and Co. The result was a 44-11 flurry by New York in the fourth quarter and overtime, completing one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history with a 115-104 victory.

Cleveland was up by 29 points against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first game of the season. Philadelphia fans were booing James and Co. and it appeared Cleveland would begin the season 1-0.

However, the 76ers erased the huge deficit and won by a final score of 114-106. It was an embarrassing loss for Cleveland. The 76ers outscored the Cavaliers 37-21 in the third quarter and 32-16 in the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers also blew a double-digit lead against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5. It doesn't look like Cleveland has learned anything from the 2026 playoffs. 

Look, there is a reason James didn't come home this summer. He didn't trust Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. It's early, but it appears James made the right decision by signing with the 76ers, who are 8-1. 

LeBron is the best player in Cleveland history. He's also arguably the top player of all time.

Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, LeBron is first in NBA history in points, field goals, games and minutes. He’s the only player to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three teams, the only player with 40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 50,000 points combining the regular season and playoffs.

The Cavaliers host the 76ers on Friday. 

Harden has a swing rating of minus-22.6 (8th percentile, via Cleaning the Glass). NBA analyst Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report believes Cleveland made a "terrible decision" by giving Harden a fully guaranteed three-year contract.  

Harden, 37, is making $30,647,619 this season. He'll make $32,180,000 next season and has a player option worth $33,712,381 for the 2028-29 season.