The Cavaliers have spent this offseason watching the East get stronger while their own front office mostly stood still.
Cleveland did make one move, signing forward Mario Hezonja to a veteran minimum deal. But Hezonja hasn’t played in an NBA game in six years, and the version of him that was in the league wasn’t exactly moving the needle. Beyond that, the Cavs have been stuck trying to work sign-and-trade deals to address the wing spot, with Jonathan Kuminga and Peyton Watson among the names in the mix.
That passivity has put a spotlight on a summer full of missed chances and costly miscalculations.
One of the biggest swings Cleveland missed was the chance to bring LeBron back for a third stint. The setup was there after the Cavs got within four wins of the NBA Finals last season, but LeBron instead chose the Philadelphia 76ers, saying they gave him a better shot at a fifth championship. He met with Cleveland in early July and still wound up signing with a fourth franchise for his 24th season.
The Cavaliers also lost Dean Wade in free agency. Wade will begin his eighth NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers after growing up in Cleveland’s system, going from NBA Summer League and the Canton Charge to a real role on a team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
His offense never took off in the postseason, but he was one of the better defenders on Kenny Atkinson’s roster and filled an important role. The team’s wait for LeBron’s decision, and the expectation that a third chapter in Cleveland was coming, likely played a part in Wade leaving.
There’s also the issue of how the Cavs have handled their assets. Cleveland got Ellis and Dennis Schroder from the Sacramento Kings at the deadline in the De’Andre Hunter deal.
Ellis was the kind of young, impact defender the Cavaliers had chased for years, with some offensive upside, while Schroder was mainly there to help make the money work. But Ellis is now gone after signing a two-year, $18 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets, and reports say the Cavaliers are looking for a trade partner to unload Schroder’s salary.
That’s not a great look when you consider what Cleveland gave up to get here. Hunter was a costly acquisition in 2025, and the team had already moved on from Caris LeVert, who had been difficult to land from the Indiana Pacers a few years earlier. Turning that chain of moves into Ellis and Schroder, only to appear ready to move off both, looks like poor resource management.
The offseason has also put a heavy burden on Evan Mobley. Altman passed on trading the seven-footer in a package built around Giannis Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline.
Then this summer, Antetokounmpo ended up with the Miami Heat in a deal centered on Tyler Herro. Cleveland, at the very least, could have put together a stronger offer.
The same goes for Jaylen Brown. The Cavaliers stayed committed to Mobley and Donovan Mitchell, who signed a four-year extension with Cleveland rather than leaving for Brown.
Philadelphia landed Brown for an aging Paul George and draft picks, and that move helped convince LeBron to sign there as well. That sequence gave the Sixers a stronger claim as a contender in the East.
And they’re not the only ones getting better. Antetokounmpo is now in Miami.
Brown and LeBron are in Philadelphia. Toronto is trying to finish its trade for Kawhi Leonard, who led the Raptors to the 2019 title.
Detroit is reportedly sniffing around Kevin Durant, who has two championships. Boston is preparing a new pairing of George and Jayson Tatum, Indiana is getting Tyrese Halliburton back alongside Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac, and Atlanta and New York have both improved too.
Meanwhile, Cleveland is left hoping for internal growth. Altman will likely spend another season counting on Mitchell to play like the best guy on a championship team or on Mobley to make a sixth-year leap.
It also looks increasingly strange that the Cavaliers let general manager Mike Gansey leave their building for a big promotion with the Sixers. He helped bring in Brown, Brown helped bring in LeBron, and overnight Philadelphia became a more dangerous title threat than Cleveland.
In Other News...
Cavs May Be Headed For A Risk Versus Fit Trade Call
The Cavaliers have made no secret of wanting more help on the wing after losing Dean Wade and Keon Ellis, and the reported search has already led them into the kind of trade conversations that force a front office to balance present fit against long-term upside. A deal would likely require some sort of sign-and-trade framework, with names such as Max Strus or Dennis Schroder potentially entering the equation as Cleveland looks for a way to reshape a part of the roster that suddenly feels thin.
One of the players drawing interest is Peyton Watson, a 23-year-old wing who is viewed as the more complete option, while another is Jonathan Kuminga, whose appeal comes from a higher ceiling but a less consistent track record. Clevelands challenge is straightforward but not simple: the team needs wing depth now, yet any move big enough to solve that issue could demand real assets, and the price tag being discussed around Watson suggests this is the kind of decision that can tilt a summer in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Cleveland Basketball Just Added A New Team Fans Can Rally Behind
Cleveland basketball is about to get a new layer, with the city set to welcome a WNBA franchise called the Cleveland Sirens in 2028. The team will be owned by Rock Entertainment Group and Dan Gilbert, whose $250 million investment marked the highest price paid for a WNBA franchise, and the early pieces are already coming together with Allison Howard named President of Basketball Operations.
Progressive Insurance is in as an early sponsor, giving the new club another sign of real momentum before it ever takes the floor. For Cleveland fans, the arrival of the Sirens adds another pro basketball team to rally around and another chance for the city to build a larger basketball footprint, even if the full shape of the franchise still has time to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Still Face One Brutal Question After This Quiet Offseason
The Cavaliers entered the offseason with a familiar problem: how to keep their roster sturdy enough around the edges while maintaining a core they believe can contend in the East. They lost Dean Wade, Keon Ellis and Larry Nance Jr., a quiet series of departures that chipped away at the depth behind Donovan Mitchell, Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, even as the front office kept its focus on preserving the groups high-end talent.
Mitchell remains the face of the franchise, and Cleveland still has interest in Jonathan Kuminga as it looks for another jolt of athleticism and upside. The bigger issue, though, is what comes next if the Cavaliers are serious about turning that core into a team that can take the next step, because the margins on a roster like this tend to decide whether a promising season becomes something more. [Read more 🡒]