The Cleveland Cavaliers have landed a prediction that will definitely catch your attention.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won 64 games and finished with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season, but fell to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs.
Clearly understanding they needed to add more, the Cavaliers went out and acquired both Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. over the summer, further bolstering their defensive versatility.
Yes, Cleveland lost a key piece in Ty Jerome, but the hope is that the Ball-Nance duo off the bench will more than compensate for Jerome's depature.
In a much weaker Eastern Conference, the Cavs appear to be the standout team heading into the 2025-26 NBA campaign, but will they experience the same sort of regular-season success they enjoyed last year?
Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey thinks so, predicting the Cavaliers to win 60 games for the second straight year.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell. Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images."Back-to-back years with 60 wins is no small feat in the NBA, but Cleveland has all of its most important players back for 2025-26," Bailey wrote. "And the already weak Eastern Conference should be even softer without [Jayson] Tatum (for at least much of the campaign) and Tyrese Haliburton. Barring injury, the Cavs should push for first place and five dozen victories again."
It should be noted that the Cavaliers will already be without Darius Garland in the early stages of the season, as the All-Star guard is recovering from toe surgery. Nevertheless, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are still aboard, so Cleveland should remain an impressive unit even with Garland sidelined. Then, once Garland returns, the Cavs will be that much more dangerous.
Of course, while winning a lot of games during the regular season is nice, it is not the ultimate goal for the Cavaliers, who need to prove themselves in the playoffs.
Cleveland has yet to make it past the second round with this group, and Mitchell himself has never made it to a conference finals dating back to his days with the Utah Jazz.
Health permitting, there is absolutely no excuse for the Cavs to not at least make an Eastern Conference Finals run this year. On paper, their roster looks better than last season, and the Cavaliers are now also more experienced.