The Cavaliers are headed toward the regular season with familiar pressure hanging over them, and the biggest issue isn’t whether they can win games. That part has been established. The real test is what happens when the stakes rise again, after the collapse that followed the ECF sweep at the hands of the Knicks.
Cleveland made roster changes and is working with a rotation that looks a little different this time around. The goal remains the same: another deep playoff run. But with the calendar about to flip into games that count, four major questions are sitting in front of them.
One of the biggest involves Peyton Watson, who was never brought into the NBA as a scorer. At UCLA, he averaged just 3.3 points per game and built his reputation as a defensive player, which is what got him on the floor and what sent him to Denver in the draft.
That changed in his fourth season with the Nuggets, when injuries pushed him into a larger offensive role. He responded with his best stretch yet, scoring 30 points at least once, knocking down threes, and finishing with nearly 15 points per game while hitting 41% of his triples.
That kind of production is what Cleveland needs now that he’s replacing Max Strus, who gave the team an offensive lift. The defense, as the source material makes clear, is already there.
Kenny Atkinson is another central piece of the conversation. He said during his media day presser that he loved walking through Cleveland and that everybody would call him Coach, and he enters his third year under real scrutiny.
The regular season has gone smoothly enough: 64 wins and a No. 1 seed in his first year, then 50 wins and an ECF berth in his second. But both seasons ended badly, first in the second round and then in the ECF, where a historic Game 1 lead slipped away.
The question now is not whether Atkinson can guide this team through the regular season. It’s whether he can make the right postseason adjustments - and whether he’s the long-term answer once the new pieces are fully sorted out.
Mario Hezonja is also back in the spotlight as he prepares for his first NBA regular-season minutes since 2019-20. He’s a different player physically now, standing 6’9 and listed at 260 pounds, and he comes off winning EuroLeague MVP two years ago with Real Madrid.
Hezonja turned heads in preseason, and he was especially strong in the scrimmages in Spain. Cleveland expects him to be in the rotation on day one, and he’ll have a meaningful role right away.
A lot of his minutes will come from the spot Dean Wade used to occupy, and while Hezonja projects as the more efficient offensive option, the tradeoff is a clear drop on the defensive end. How he performs off the bench could shape how high this team can climb.
Then there’s the schedule. Cleveland’s first 10 games in 2026-27 are no soft landing.
The Sixers show up twice. So do the Thunder.
The Knicks, the Timberwolves, and the Wizards are in that stretch too, with Washington described as looking as good as it has in some time. That opening run matters because the Cavaliers were a .500 team around Christmas in 2025-26, a sharp contrast to the season before, when they lost just 18 times overall.
A fast start would help them prove they can hang with the league’s best and avoid the kind of midseason trade chatter that has followed them before.
A year ago, they brought in James Harden. The year before that, it was De’Andre Hunter.
Cleveland does not want a repeat of the regular-season grind from last season, especially with the East expected to be deep again. Getting out ahead early would do more than stack up wins.
It would quiet the rumors, ease the pressure on Atkinson, and keep the front office from having its decisions picked apart before the real chase even begins.
In Other News...
Jarrett Allen Trade Buzz Puts Cleveland In A Tough Spot
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That reluctance makes sense for a team that leans on Allen as a defensive anchor and values the stability he brings alongside Evan Mobley. For now, the Cavs have turned down every inquiry, and the real question is whether any team will eventually come forward with an offer Cleveland views as worth disturbing one of its most important interior pieces. [Read more 🡒]
James Harden Just Put A Surprising Timeline On His Beard
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For Cavaliers fans, the bigger point is less about facial hair than the reminder that Harden is still very much settled into the stage of his career where identity matters as much as role. He indicated the beard will remain with him throughout his playing days, leaving any real decision on it for later, once the cameras are no longer part of the equation. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Mitchell's Place Among NBA Scorers Says A Lot About Cleveland
Donovan Mitchells standing as one of the leagues elite scorers keeps reinforcing how far Cleveland has come since he arrived. The Cavaliers have built around a player whose production has been steady in every setting, with career marks of 25.1 points per game in the regular season and 27.8 in the playoffs, and last seasons run to the Eastern Conference Finals only added to the sense that he remains the center of the franchises ambitions.
Bleacher Reports latest ranking, which slots Mitchell ninth among NBA scorers heading into the 2026-27 season, is another reminder that the Cavaliers are operating with a legitimate offensive engine. It also comes after Mitchell signed a four-year, $273 million maximum extension with Cleveland this offseason, a move that signals how strongly both sides believe the window is still open. [Read more 🡒]