We are just under two months away from the start of the NBA season. After an eventful offseason that has featured huge contracts being signed, the reveal of the In-Season Tournament, and James Harden finding yet another way to dismantle a franchise, this 2023-24 NBA season has a lot of excitement that fans should be looking forward to. As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, this upcoming season has the potential to be the most exciting yet.
The team had a great offseason that saw them fill weaknesses by signing Max Strus (by way of sign-and-trade) and Georges Niang, and bringing back Caris LeVert. The foundation was already there with the “Core Four” of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Now, the team has ample depth to complement them. As I have said many times, there are ZERO excuses for the Cavs this year. They have everything they need to compete for a championship.
With the schedule being released last week, the Cavs have marquee matchups that will test them immensely and present an opportunity for revenge.
Here are three games Cavs fans should be excited for this season.
The first comes on Halloween.
No. 1: Oct. 31 vs New York Knicks
This is the first meeting between these two teams since their first-round series last season that saw the Knicks dominate the Cavs in five games. There were a lot of reasons why the Cavs lost that series the way that they did. Besides them putting up bricks to build more buildings in New York City, they were outhustled and outmuscled against the Knicks on both ends of the floor.
In addition to that, Donovan Mitchell looked human in the postseason for one of the rare times in his career, and Jarrett Allen was…well his numbers and play spoke for itself. He was probably the worst starter in that series. All in all, the Cavs have to show that they are not the same team they were in April and this is their first real opprtounity to do so.
They fixed their depth by adding Strus, Niang, and Ty Jerome. They still have Caris LeVert, and Isaac Okoro for depth on the wing. However, the Knicks made their own improvements as they brought back Josh Hart and signed Donte DiVencenzo. They also still have Jalen Brunson, who is emerging as one of the best point guards in the league, and Julius Randle, who was an All-NBA performer during the regular season.
The Cavs have a better roster than the Knicks – on paper. Now they have to show it and on Oct. 31 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, they will have their first chance.