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It's looking like the 2024-25 season is shaping up to be quite the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers; after two seasons of being a middle of the pack playoff team in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have blossomed into the league's preeminent powerhouse, boasting a record of 33-5 record at the time of writing. The front office's faith in the team's core is paying off in a big way, and they have constructed a roster in which everyone is playing their role to a T.
Not too many teams can boast about the fact that they're playing at a 73-win pace with nearly half of the season gone. But the 2024-25 Cavs can, and at this point, there is no reason to doubt their legitimacy as a championship contender. They have two gifted guards leading the offense, a versatile two-way forward who can do it all on both ends of the court, and a rim-running rim protector who has earned them wins thanks to his relentlessness on the glass.
Now, it's easy to say that the Cavs cannot rest on their laurels. Legitimate championship opportunities like the one they have don't come very often, and they must do whatever it takes to seize this chance. But as the old adage goes, if something isn't broken, then there isn't a need at all for them to fix things. And the Cavs must subscribe to this, unless a golden opportunity falls on their lap.
Cavs' fatal flaw could be impatience
It's not a stretch to say that the 2024-25 Cavs already have a complete team that can compete with the other contending squads in the association. They have the best offense in the league, and the personnel they have is versatile enough to shapeshift against the powerhouses in the league such as the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Every one on the team is filling their role in Kenny Atkinson's system; everyone on the rotation can shoot except for Jarrett Allen, and they have a ton of players who can make plays and keep the ball moving, making it very difficult for any team to defend them — even the Thunder. And then on most nights, they have the size advantage thanks to Allen and Evan Mobley, which give their offense some margin of error as they can make up for some misses with their presence on the glass.
The size the Cavs have also allows them to put together a competent defense that ranks just outside the top 10. There isn't much the Cavs have to do, especially when they have the league's best net rating. Contending teams need not overthink things. They need not do anything that risks upsetting the makeup of the team when they've been so successful as presently constructed.
Can the Darius Garland-Donovan Mitchell backcourt duo survive defensively come playoff time?
However, there could be something in the Cavs' defense that might prove to be a sore spot come playoff time. Small guards don't tend to have a good time in the playoffs. They get targeted on every pick-and-roll, with huge ballhandling wings creating a ton of offense for their teams when the game slows down when they get the smaller man on them.
Garland and Mitchell try their hardest on that end of the floor, but at the end of the day, Garland is 6'1″ and Mitchell is 6'3″, both of which might be put to the test by a team such as the Celtics, who have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. This might be the most damning question for the Cavs when their championship hopes are put through the microscope.
If the Cavs were to do anything prior to the trade deadline, it's to solidify their defense on the perimeter. They have the contract of Isaac Okoro to dangle, as Okoro has ended up being an expendable piece for Cleveland in the aftermath of Max Strus' return to the rotation.
Can Cleveland find a way to bolster their defense?
If there was ever a perfect trade target for the Cavs, it was New Orleans Pelicans 3 and D wing Herb Jones; Jones is a low-usage defensive stopper who's proven in the past that he can lock down even the best perimeter scorers in the association. Jones, however, is going to be out indefinitely with a torn labrum, rendering this hypothetical moot.
Perhaps the Cavs can talk their way into acquiring Bruce Brown via trade, but Brown's $23 million would make that close to impossible. Maybe the Portland Trail Blazers make Deni Avdija available, although they did just give up a first-round pick for him not too long ago, making this scenario unlikely.
