Cleveland Cavaliers 2025-26 Season Prediction | Can They Make the NBA Finals?

Cleveland Cavaliers 2025-26 Season Prediction | Can They Make the NBA Finals?

Back here on HQ Spotlight on CBS Sports Network, LeBron James winning that improbable title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in his last stint 10 years ago. Now, 10 years ago next season, might he return? Well, he’s not commenting on trade rumors as reports surface that the Cavs are interested, but only if the Lakers pay out his contract. He’s been with LA since 2018. If he goes back to Cleveland, it would be his third stint over the course of three different decades. Let’s bring in John Gonzalez and Tim Doyle to discuss LeBron and potentially moving back to the Cavs and then overall the Cavs this season. John, let’s say that the Lakers are willing to pay all or the majority of that contract because they want to get something in return for LeBron instead of just letting him go after this season. What do you think they would need from the Cavs in return? Yeah, that’s the thing, right? I mean, I don’t The conversation about uh buying out LeBron doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me just because if you’re the Lakers, you were the three seed last year. You’ve got Luca and LeBron. Yes, LeBron wanted another contract, likely a one-onone, and you rightly and smartly decided not to give it to him, but he’s still on your team. He opted into his contract. they they have designs even in a loaded Western Conference where I think they’re not as good as Oklahoma City, the Rockets, uh, and the Nuggets, they still have designs on doing something in the postseason. So, I have a hard time believing that they’re just going to move on from him rather than keeping him around to try to make a run. And the reason why I don’t think that they trade him either is because that $52.6 million is going to be awfully hard to match up salaries, which is why what would they want back from Cleveland? I mean, if you’re going to do it, you’re looking at some combination of Darius Garland, Jared Allen, and parts. I mean, I don’t think that makes much sense. More likely here, I think, what h happens is LeBron ends up playing out uh this season in Los Angeles and then maybe reuniting with Cleveland next season when he’s a free agent. Yeah, I I’m not really going to get into Chris and John, you know, the numbers or the contract or the aprons. I’m gonna live leave that up to Sam Quinn who’s in a dark room somewhere with buns and burners and graduated cylinders and he’s like got the numbers flying all over the place. I’ll just say this as a fan. I need this. This is like the Wolf of Wall Street, okay? Like I’m not leaving. Like I’m not leaving. I’m coming back to Cleveland. This is fantastic. This is everything the NBA is. The drama off the floor is better than the product on the floor. It It’s crazy that this is even a conversation. So, um, is this going to happen, Hassel? I have no idea. Uh, is Sam Quinn seen like the light of day in weeks? I don’t know. I know he’s amazing with the numbers and I want to see this matchup. I want to, as a fan of basketball, see LeBron back in Cleveland. Well, let’s just for the rest of this conversation say that it doesn’t happen this year, and let’s only talk about this year. The Cavs had the best record in the East last season. They added Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. I guess the question is John, maybe it’s twfold. Will either of them have any impact on the upcoming season and do they even need to have an impact for Larry Nance? Probably not because he really functionally ends up as your third big and you’re really running a two-man rotation there of Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. But Larry Nance is a nice player. He’s one of those guys that uh a lot of team he’s he’s bopped around the league. He’s he’s been on a lot of teams and I think a lot of teams could use a Larry Nance, but I you know he played what 24 games last season. He had a ton of injury issues. uh only played about 19 minutes per game. The most games he’s ever played is 67 games. So I I guess if you’re looking at him as your third rotational big and maybe like 10 to 15 minutes a game, that’s plenty. Lonzo Ball is really interesting because he’s had so many knee issues. He missed two full seasons. He only played 35 games last year and he averaged about 22 minutes per game. And even when he was healthy, the most games he’s ever played in his career is 63 games. But he’s so talented and if you could get I don’t know 50 games out of him at say 20 to 25 minutes per game that would be a huge win for them especially after they lost Ty Jerome. I’m a big Lonzo Ball fan. He’s super smart. He knows how to run an offense. If he was your second point guard uh or even, you know, your third rotational guard off the bench, if you can just keep him healthy and he can give you really basically anything, that would be a boon for them. Yeah. I mean, when I see Lonzo Ball, this is what I think of. Whoa. Okay, we’re bringing in Lonzo Ball. Like, you know, I’m rooting for the guy as a fan. Um, he’s missed all the time. You know, I got a chance to watch him last year. I live in Chicago. It wasn’t great. You were rooting for him, but he shot 36% from the field and 34% from three. So, I’m sure he was still, you know, coming back, but I know Mike Gany, the GM of the Cavaliers since we’re 12 years old. We communicate regularly. The guy is an amazing basketball mind. remember he was on that team with pit snoggle back in the day West Virginia and he has built this Cavaliers team similar to those John Beline teams where you got a lot of shooting you got some excellent passing um but Lonzo Ball is a definite roll of the dice a calculated gamble as for Larry Jan Nance Jr. Hassel. He recently played golf with my brother Dan and he’s just a fantastic human being. He’s a great locker room guy. And he told my brother Dan this, this is hilarious. He said, “I’m only in the NBA because I have a 7 foot2 wingspan.” And it was like uh well 10 years into the NBA and he’s made a lot of money, but he’s a great veteran presence in the locker room. He’s been around the block. He’s everything that’s right about the game of basketball. So he fits. He’s played with the Cavs before. Lonzo ball. Massive gamble. Yeah. Love the love the off off the court references from Tim Doyle. At least he uh he he wasn’t one of those guys. What was the guy you used to see mowing his lawn with his shirt off that you would reference all the time? Yeah, that was that was Alec Pierce. Yeah, he’s the Colts wide receiver. Oh my god. I don’t know why we were talking about him when talking NBA. But listen, let’s go to the draft this year. They didn’t have a top 45 pick, John. They got Proctor from Duke who’s done some nice things in the summer league. How do you see this class impacting things moving forward? Not much, right? I mean, this is a team like Proctor. He’ll be an end of the rotation guy. He’s probably He’s the 49th pick, a guard out of Duke. He’s going to probably be most of the time in the G-League. And then they took Nyang uh with the 58th pick. He’s a guy who’s playing in Italy. He’s in summer league right now. He’s going back to Italy. I mean, so, you know, he’s in Vegas and then they’re shipping him right back across to to keep playing uh in the Euro League. This is a team that’s already like really loaded. Yes, they lost Ty Jerome. Yes, they lost Isaac Aoro, but we talked about uh Tim’s brother’s golf partner, Larry Nance, and then also Lonzo Ball. They’re already still really deep, right? I mean, they do still have DeAndre Hunter, Sam Merrill, uh Dean Wade. That’s 10 right there after you go through your first five guys when you add in Lonzo and Nance as well. So, I would expect that they’ll bring along Proctor really slowly and then Nyang even slower than that. Yeah. And if you’re a guy like Proctor, what a great organization to go to where every day, well, as as many days as you’re up being a pro in the NBA level, you’re matching up with Donovan Mitchell, Caris, uh, what’s the other guy’s name? Darius Garland. Like, what great guards to learn from. And by the way, like professionalism to the utmost. Proctor was amazing in the tournament, guys. He averaged over three made threes a game. He shot 55% from three. Once again, it’s the Cavaliers. What are they putting that emphasis on? Shooting the three. Hassel, they fell apart last year because injuries. If they would have stayed healthy, they were massive favorites in that series over Indiana. You know, lost a crazy game where Hallebertton made a shot, had some injuries, and then the wheels just completely fell off. I don’t expect Proctor to have a high impact, but I think he could be a guy for the future. He is 6’5. And I will say this, Hassel, this is another off. I’ve actually never seen you look better. Like you got your hair look, it’s like fantastic length. If we can keep it that length forever, you’re gonna be you’re you have a nice color. You’re out in the sun. You’ve been exercising. Stay away from the bourbon. I’ve never seen you look better than this segment. I’m not staying away from the bourbon. I can tell you that. Maybe it must be working for me at this point. Uh we we’ll talk more about coloring our hair uh once we get off this segment and into the commercial break. But I I did want to ask you about what what you see for this team this upcoming season because Tim, it does feel like a two-horse race in the East with all the injuries. Hallebertton specifically, it feels like it’s either the Cavs or the Knicks. And for the Cavs, h how do you think they deal with the added pressure of being the favorite right now? I I I think they they play a fantastic brand of basketball. They just got injuries, you know. So, you know, two years ago, the Knicks ended up getting banged up. So, it’s hard to predict that, but I I do think that this is a two- horse race, and at the end of the season, I think it’s going to be Cavs, Knicks, and I have the Cavs winning the East. So, I have the Cavs playing in the NBA finals. I think the Magic are a legit team. Everybody else, talk about giant question marks across that entire Eastern Conference. But the Cavs have so many guys, John, right in the prime of their career. Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, Allen, everybody understands their role. That is so hard to find on an NBA team. And by the way, they have continuity and chemistry amongst their starters. Uh yeah, if they stay healthy, they’ll be in the finals. Yeah, last year, I mean, they had a really good year during the regular season, right? The number one team in the Eastern Conference all season long. Yes, it was a disappointing second round out, but they had those injury issues that Tim mentioned, and I just love that team. I mean, they had the number one offense in the NBA all season long. Everybody can shoot. They had a top 10 defense that they brought in Kenny Atinson who cracked the code on how do you play Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland together. I was one of the guys who said you got to stagger him. Nope, they figured it out. I was one of the guys that said you got to stagger Evan Moley and Jared Allen. They don’t fit together. Nope. Kenny Atinson figured it out. So, I’m I’m with you, Chris, that I think that it’s probably a two team race between them and the Knicks. But, I wouldn’t count out the Magic. They signed Desmond Bane. They’ve got their core locked up. They had injury issues last year. I think they’re ascended. They still need a little bit more offense, but I do like the direction that they’re heading in. Same with the Pistons, who, you know, if not for a couple of calls the the other way, might have unseated the Knicks in the first round. And then I absolutely love what the Atlanta Hawks have doing are doing this off seasonason going out and getting Christophs Porzingis and Nquille Alexander Walker and Luke Canard. And they get Jaylen Johnson back who by the way is the best player on that team. Don’t sleep on the Hawks either. I think it’s sort of like a five team race, but yes, the Cavs and the Knicks are cut above. I’ve got them in the Eastern Conference Finals and then from there, who knows? I mean, they could absolutely win it and go on to the finals and then we’ll see. But I think that that’s sort of like the baseline for them. And the other thing here, I just wanted to echo what Tim said. Your hair does look really good. I mean, he didn’t say that about me. So, congrats to you, Chris. You’re It’s the key to have directly on top in this here in the studio. The light is shining directly on top of my hair. That gives you the We need to get some of that in. John, you’ve got a little bit of it. Tim, you need a light right on top of yours in your little space suit there. Yeah, I wasn’t sure if you were putting a little mayonnaise in it. Maybe a little lemon juice to make it a little bit lighter. It is the lighting. You’re right. Uh, no mayonnaise. I can promise you that. Tim Doyle and John Gonzalez with us here looking at the Cavs this upcoming season. Who knows? Hey, maybe they go out and get LeBron back again. Uh, plus 250 to win it. They are the favorite slightly over the Knicks at plus 275. And then it’s those those teams that John said that don’t sleep on the Magic and the Hawks and the Pistons. You never know.

John Gonzalez and Tim Doyle join CBS Sports HQ Spotlight to preview the 2025-26 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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