The Cavaliers and Pistons may have missed out on the NBA’s Christmas Day stage, but they won’t be left out of the league’s holiday spotlight for long.
Cleveland will host Detroit on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 18, with tipoff set for noon Eastern, the NBA announced Thursday. The matchup will lead off the league’s four-game MLK Day slate and will be shown nationally on NBC and Peacock.
It’s an appealing choice for the league, and not just because both teams are expected to matter in the East again. Cleveland and Detroit gave last spring’s playoffs some real bite when the Pistons surged to a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Cavs answered by clawing all the way back and then putting the series away with a blowout win in Game 7 in Detroit.
That surge didn’t carry Cleveland much farther. The Cavs were then swept by the eventual champion Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Even so, both teams enter this season with heavyweight ambitions. Detroit won 60 games last year behind Cade Cunningham, who has become an MVP candidate. Cleveland brings back Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, with James Harden expected back as the Cavs keep adjusting the roster.
The MLK Day schedule continues after Cavs-Pistons with 76ers-Hawks at 2:30 p.m., Timberwolves-Knicks at 5 and Rockets-Grizzlies at 7:30. NBC and Peacock will carry all four games.
So while Christmas came and went without either team getting the call, Cleveland and Detroit will get their national audience a few weeks later - and another chance to pick up where last spring left off.
In Other News...
Cavaliers Could Be Pulled Into A Lakers Trade Shakeup
The Lakers are still above the regular-season roster limit, and the front office appears to be working through another round of moves to trim the group before the season settles in. Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt have both surfaced in trade chatter, and the broader framework of those talks has started to pull in more than just Los Angeles, with Brooklyn and Detroit also mentioned as part of the discussion.
For Cleveland, the interest is in how far this kind of roster reshuffle could reach if the talks keep gaining traction. A four-team structure would create room for multiple teams to solve different needs at once, and the Cavaliers have been linked to the conversation in a way that makes the next step worth watching closely, even if the full shape of the deal is still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Just Gained Serious Leverage Over The Cavaliers
James Hardens decision to decline his $42.3 million player option was framed as a move that could help Cleveland create the financial flexibility needed to chase outside help. It was the kind of signal front offices love to point to in the early stages of an offseason, especially when a team is trying to thread the needle between keeping a star in place and improving the roster around him.
But the market has not broken Clevelands way yet, and that leaves Harden in a stronger position than the Cavaliers probably expected when the option decision was made. With the additions they pursued still not in place, media reports suggest he could push for a richer contract, while the Cavaliers are still believed to want him back and are preparing to work toward a new deal. [Read more 🡒]
Jarrett Allen Trade Talk Ignores What The Cavs Could Really Lose
With the Cavaliers weighing ways to trim salary, Jarrett Allen has inevitably surfaced in the conversation. That makes sense on paper, since his contract is one of the bigger ones on the roster, but it also misses the larger point of what Cleveland would be giving up if it chose that path. Allen remains central to what the Cavs do best, and his presence has helped anchor their most effective lineups.
The appeal of moving money is obvious, especially for a team trying to manage its future flexibility, but Allen is not just a movable number. He is one of Clevelands most important on-court pieces, and his deal looks reasonable for the level of production he has provided. If the front office is serious about staying competitive, the harder question may not be whether Allen has trade value, but whether the Cavaliers can afford to lose what he means to their identity. [Read more 🡒]