The Cleveland Cavaliers enter the 2026 preseason ranked eighth in the NBA by Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, sitting just ahead of the Miami Heat and just behind the Denver Nuggets.
On paper, Cleveland’s starting five looks loaded. The Cavaliers are set to open with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
Harden arrived from the LA Clippers last season and gave Cleveland steady production right away. He put up 20.5 points and 7.7 assists per game in the regular season, then followed that with 19.2 points and 5.5 assists per game in the playoffs.
Mitchell remains the centerpiece of the offense. Since coming over from the Utah Jazz before the 2022-23 season, he has averaged 26.7 points per game in the regular season and 27.3 points per game in the playoffs for Cleveland. He also locked in long term this offseason with a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension.
Watson is another major piece of the reshaped roster. He joined the Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade with the Nuggets on a four-year, $88 million deal that includes a player option and a trade kicker.
Last season in Denver, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.1% from three and 73.0% from the line. He’s also described as one of the top two-way wings in the league.
Allen is in line for $28 million this season after averaging 15.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last year. He shot 63.8% from the field and 70.9% at the free-throw line, and he finished with 20 double-doubles.
Mobley is the swing factor. He averaged 18.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game for Cleveland last season while shooting 54.6% from the field, 29.7% from beyond the arc and 60.6% from the free-throw line.
The Cavaliers passed on deals that would have sent Mobley to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was traded to the Heat, and also passed on moving him for Jaylen Brown, who was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. That leaves Mobley under major pressure to perform like a superstar this season, because if he doesn’t, Cleveland could end up regretting not making either move for Brown or Antetokounmpo, both former Finals MVPs.
Cleveland opens the season against LeBron James and the 76ers in Philadelphia. The Cavaliers will be trying to do what LeBron did in 2016, when the 2015-16 team won the championship against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
In Other News...
Kenny Atkinson Is Challenging The Cavs In One Crucial Way
The Cavaliers have taken their preseason work overseas, using training camp in Malaga, Spain, as more than just a chance to get shots up and legs under them. Kenny Atkinson has framed the trip as a test of adaptation, with the staff leaning into team bonding, scrimmaging, conditioning and mental drills as Cleveland tries to build a sharper foundation before the season begins. Peyton Watson and the rest of the group are getting a very different kind of camp than the usual routine back home.
What makes the setup notable is the emphasis on the part of the game that can be easy to overlook in October: how a team responds when the environment changes and the work gets uncomfortable. Atkinson has made mental performance a priority in Malaga, and the Cavaliers are trying to turn that into camaraderie and resilience as they prepare for what comes next. The real question is how much of that edge carries over once the trip ends and the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Just Added An Unexpected Twist To Clevelands Future
During the Cavaliers training camp in Spain, James Harden gave a glimpse of how he sees the later stages of his career, saying he has interest in eventually playing basketball in Europe or Spain. It was an interesting note to surface while Cleveland was working overseas, especially coming from a player who only recently committed to the team on a three-year contract and appears locked in on the present.
For now, the message is less about departure than possibility. Harden did not offer a timeline or suggest anything is imminent, but the idea of a future overseas stint adds a different layer to his Cleveland tenure and gives the Cavs something else to think about as they move through camp abroad. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Mitchell Just Added Real Heat To Cavaliers Opening Night
Donovan Mitchell has become the face of Clevelands next chapter, and now he has already put a sharper edge on opening night. After LeBron James chose to sign a two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers instead of returning to Cleveland, Mitchell referred to him as the enemy, a comment that instantly gave the Cavaliers season opener a little extra bite.
Mitchell was brought in before the 2022-23 season and has since locked in his long-term future with a four-year, $273 million extension, so this is very much his team now. Cleveland will open the season with Mitchell in the lineup against James 76ers, a matchup that already carries the kind of storyline the NBA likes to package and fans in Cleveland will not need much convincing to circle on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]