The Cleveland Cavaliers decided to keep the band together after yet another disappointing playoff exit. That now looks like a grave mistake as they flounder their way through the start of the season.
The core of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen is extremely talented. When healthy, Garland has an incredible offensive impact as a shooter and playmaker. Allen does so many things well as a versatile center with great touch and defensive range. Mitchell and Mobley were All-NBA last season.
Yet what is true and has always been true is that those four players do not represent the best fit for a foursome. The most talented Top-4 in the league? It's possible. Yet putting two small guards in the backcourt and two natural centers in the frontcourt is not smooth, and it puts a ton of pressure on the fifth player, who somehow needs to defend at the point of attack, check opposing wings, space the court and be dangerous in transition. All while those four make significant money.
The Cavs deserve credit for how they have attempted to build around that core, and Dan Gilbert's willingness to pay prevented a talent drain this summer. And the caveat that this group has been very injured all season is important. But the Cavaliers started 15-0 last season and 15-14 this season; that is a red flag that something more than injuries is happening.
Cleveland has to come to grips that its four-man core isn't going to take this team where they want to go. The fit of Mobley and Allen is not ideal, and it never has been even as the team found ways to make the best of it. The defensive fit of Mitchell and Garland is going to be a significant problem, one exacerbated by Garland's lack of mobility as his toe heals.
Making a sweeping change to the roster during the season is a nearly impossible task, especially since Cleveland is well above the second tax apron and cannot trade more than one players in a single transaction. They also would presumably move on from either Darius Garland, who is not fully healthy, or Jarrett Allen, whose value is at an all-time low as he approaches a pay increase in 2026-27.
The Cavaliers missed their chance to act.
Cleveland should have traded Jarrett Allen this summer
The obvious move would have been to trade Jarrett Allen over the summer to a team in need of an upgrade at center. Perhaps that would have been the Los Angeles Lakers, who ultimately signed Deandre Ayton at a bargain after he agreed to a buyout. The San Antonio Spurs were looking for another center. The Toronto Raptors could have pivoted away from Jakob Poeltl before inking him to an extension. The Milwaukee Bucks needed a center but ended up signing Myles Turner, whose departure then opened up a yawning need on the Indiana Pacers. The Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks could all have been in the mix.
During the offseason, teams had more flexibility to work out a trade. Cap space, room under tax aprons, the ability to have up to 20 players on a roster. Before teams addressed their center needs in the NBA Draft, free agency or on the trade market, they could have worked out a trade with the Cavaliers to land a fringe All-Star big in Jarrett Allen.
Instead, the Cavaliers let that window pass. Now, as they are just 16-14 through 30 games, the rumors are swirling around Allen and the roster needing a shake-up. If that possibility is on the table in December, it should have been on the team's radar in June. The possibility of trading Allen has been bandied about for years; the organization should have taken a more bold response to the team's playoff flameout and moved him when they had the chance.
Finding a suitor for Allen during the season is a difficult task; finding a suitor who will send back something that makes the Cavaliers better seems like the quest for the holy grail. Cleveland has been forced to consider a roster shakeup now that everythig is working against them; foresight and an understanding that this core four wasn't going to win a title together could have made something happen earlier.
It didn't, and now the Cavaliers' grave mistake is coming back to bite them.