The 2025 portion of this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers was frustrating, uneven, and caused plenty of disappointment. 2026 has been much better. Heading into NBA All-Star Weekend, the Cavs feel fun and exciting again.
Cleveland heads for the break with a record of 34-21, sitting well within striking distance of the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Regular season standings were never what this season was about though.
The Cavaliers want to win it all.
Watching this team at the start of the season would have left most questioning their ability to do just that. In February, while there are more impressive contenders, the Cavs once again come across as a team capable of snatching the Larry O'Brien Trophy. The rumors of their demise were premature.
Cavaliers didn’t settle for a turnaround — they elevated their ceiling
The Cavaliers were 19-16 this season before the calendar flipped to 2026. The start to January did not offer a ton of immediate hope. They were trading wins and losses on a night-to-night basis. Then, it happened. Darius Garland hit the shelf, yet again.
Many who were concerned with Garland's importance to offense threw their hands in the air in frustration yet again. However, instead of the nightmare scenario envisioned, the Cavaliers started winning again. They even found consistency.
Cleveland won six of their seven games that followed Garland's injury. With the NBA trade deadline rapidly pushing closer in the background of that winning, the Cavs got bold.
Koby Altman found a suitor for the struggling De'Andre Hunter and shipped him off to the Sacramento Kings for a strong return of Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. The Cavs were unwilling to settle for simply riding the momentum they had. They got greedy in the best way possible.
The boldness in making that deal was nothing compared to what was going to come next.
Cleveland made their all-in push. They turned an injured Garland into James Harden. There were some immediate skeptics of the move, but there was also a ton of excitement about the ceiling and playmaking boost that even a 36-year-old version of Harden offered.
Amid all of this, the Cavaliers have a 15-5 record since the start of January. That is right up their with the best of the best during that span. In that stretch, the offense has returned to being elite. The defense still has a little bit of catching up to do (12th in the NBA since Jan. 1), but Evan Mobley's eventual return should help a ton.
All in all, the swift upward trajectory the Cavs have sent themselves on leave many loud cries of frustration (like the ones had here) feel like a distant memory. Talks of a championship suddenly are not just wishful thinking. They are the expectation again.