The Cleveland Cavaliers had one of their most successful seasons in franchise history last season, winning 60+ games for the third time. However, what followed was one of the most disappointing playoff runs. The 2025-26 Cavs will be judged by how they respond to the events of last season. After finishing with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they lost in the second round of the playoffs.
This time around, they cannot afford such a mistake. Their core group has been together for two years, and it is becoming increasingly expensive to keep them together. Last summer, the Cavs fired their head coach, brought in a new voice, and there were immediate results. The Cavs lost their best bench player in the summer, as Sixth Man of the Year finalist Ty Jerome signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. In some way, they were prepared for that, reeling in De’Andre Hunter at the 2024-25 trade deadline. The Cavs look like a team ready to make a trade at this year’s deadline as well, but will it be for salary relief or more help?
High Stakes In Cleveland: Four Cavaliers With The Most To Prove
With the Cavs needing to prove themselves after last season, which players will need to step up this upcoming season? Who are the players to watch – the ones who will be under the most pressure?
Lonzo Ball
Some might say it’s not fair to put much pressure on Lonzo Ball. He’ll be playing in his first season with the Cavs. He also only played in only 35 games last season, after sitting out the previous two with injuries. However, the reality is that Ball was brought in to help with the playmaking duties. With Darius Garland injured and likely to miss the beginning of the season, he might be thrown into a starting role. The Cavs do not have another proven point guard available to play the backup role. To start the season, the Cavs will be without three of their top 2024-25 assist leaders: Garland, Jerome, and Max Strus (who’s also injured.)
Darius Garland
Speaking of Garland, he needs to come back healthy and play at an All-Star level. This might be the last season that the Cavs will be willing to pay Garland, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen. Though the Cavs have proven they can win plenty of games with that quartet, it isn’t thought to be a compatible four-man unit. And, out of those four, Garland might be the odd man out.
To his credit though, Garland was spectacular in the first half of the regular season and going into the playoffs. Before his injury, he proved to be everything the Cavs needed and more.
Sam Merrill
Simply put, Sam Merrill will have to take on the Jerome role for the Cavs this season. For the bulk of 2024-25, Merrill and Jerome were their top bench combo. In fact, they played almost an exact number of minutes in the regular season. Merrill averaged 19.7 minutes per game whereas Jerome averaged 19.9. Merrill played 1,401 minutes while Jerome was on the court for 1,392 minutes. However, Jerome was more efficient, posting .516-.439-.872 shooting splits to Merrill’s .406-.372-.966 shooting splits.
This season, Merrill has to get his 3-point efficiency up.
De’Andre Hunter
The Cavs traded for Hunter hoping he would be the missing piece to a championship contender. That wasn’t the case. He was more efficient in Cleveland than Atlanta but averaged 19.0 points per game prior to the trade and 14.3 points per game after. To that point, he had only two 20+ point games with the Cavs during the regular season and 21 with the Hawks. The more Hunter can help with the scoring load, the more Cleveland can rest Mitchell and Co. to have the entire group fresh for the playoffs.
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