These players will be pivotal in the overall success of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2025-26 season. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster is loaded with talent and features All-Star caliber players, including Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Of course, they will be essential in the Cavaliers achieving the goals they’ve set out for themselves this season.

However, there is a select group of players who will define the team’s success for various reasons. 

Evan Mobley

This is one case where the player on this list may have to be the best player on the Cavaliers for the team to win a championship, and that’s Evan Mobley. 

Every year, Mobley has continued to get better. However, his next evolution could make him the most important, valuable, and influential piece to Cleveland’s overarching success next year. 

The skillset, mechanics, and potential are clearly there for Mobley. Now, it’s all about empowering the 24-year-old and urging him to take over games with his defense and demand the ball on offense; something both Donovan Mitchell and Kenny Atkinson have said in the past they insisted Mobley do. 

If Mobley does just this and elevates his game through his attitude and aggressiveness, it could completely raise Cleveland’s ceiling this season.

Lonzo Ball

The Cavaliers traded for Lonzo Ball for him to fill a very specific void on the roster. 

The Wine and Gold needed a player who could come off the bench, lead the offense, provide playmaking when sharing the floor with the core four, while also being a pesky, irritating, and aggravating presence on defense. 

Ball fills all of those holes, and the guard could be the exact piece the Cavaliers have been missing to get over their playoff hump.

Plus, with Darius Garland possibly not being available at the start of the season due to his offseason surgery, the Cavaliers could rely on Ball to play some key minutes down the stretch in tight and close games. 

Ball isn’t going to be Cleveland’s leading scorer this season, he’s not going to get the most attention on the roster, and even an All-Star bid may be a little far-fetched heading into the year. 

However, his playmaking and on-court grit make him one of the most important players on the Cavaliers’ roster as the season approaches.

De’Andre Hunter

De’Andre Hunter was already in line to have a significant role with the Cavaliers this season. 

However, with Max Strus likely out until at least January, Hunter’s importance to Cleveland has grown exponentially.

Whether the forward ends up being the starting wing for the Cavaliers or comes off the bench with the second unit, the Wine and Gold need Hunter to continue being a serious three-point threat. 

Last season with the Cavaliers, the forward shot 42 percent from behind the arc. However, that was on 5.2 three-pointers a game, and to fill Strus’ void, Cleveland will need Hunter to increase his shooting volume to ensure they can maintain the essential floor spacing Strus provided.