Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 5 moments from an exciting 2022

No. 2 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Showing out at All-Star Weekend in Cleveland

Cleveland hosted the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in 2022, and it was a marquee event for a number of reasons. LeBron James was dropping breadcrumbs about returning to Cleveland, the rest of the NBA’s stars were around the city, and the Cavs had two of its own on the team in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.

While the All-Star Game itself was fun, the banner event for the Cavs was the “NBA All-Star Skills Challenge” which featured an all-Cavs squad consisting of Allen, Garland and Evan Mobley. They took down an all-rookie team and an all-Antetokounmpo team to win the event, which put the young Cavs front and center before a national audience. They did not disappoint, easily showing themselves to be the best trio and hitting a half-court shot to seal the deal. With the three young stars hoisting trophies together, it seemed like the sky was the limit for this team.

No. 3 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Trading for All-Star Donovan Mitchell

As with any team, it’s fun for fans to bat around the possibility of their team trading for an available star player. Last offseason rumors popped up about various players and the possibility of Cleveland trading for each one was raised: Dejounte Murray, Kevin Durant, Jerami Grant, even LeBron James. Yet when Donovan Mitchell was in trade rumors, all signs pointed to the New York Knicks landing the shooting guard; it was a one-team race.

Until it wasn’t. The Cavs traded for Donovan Mitchell in a shocking blockbuster move, pairing Mitchell and Darius Garland in the backcourt and giving Cleveland a legitimate “Big 4” for years to come. It was a surprise, but one that Cavs fans (and Mitchell himself) met with pure exhilaration.