Things just continue to fall apart for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. A team that finished 64-18 in the regular season has already logged their 18th loss of the season this year, less than half the way through the 82-game season. It's becoming impossible to deny that the doubters of this team are looking more vindicated by the day.
Donovan Mitchell is still fantastic, and Darius Garland is a talented player in his own right. But those who have questioned whether they work together in the same backcourt are looking more correct by the day. The Cavs are really running out of reasons why they shouldn't make some sort of trade and start over. Last year's team was incredible, but something is clearly missing here and now.
What makes this whole situation worse is that Cleveland's struggles are decidedly structural. Injuries and shooting variance can explain a rough stretch, but Cleveland’s problems have lingered long enough to suggest something more than that. The offensive output is still very inconsistent, and the team's margin for error is much, much thinner than it was a year ago.
That brings the conversation back to the backcourt. Mitchell remains an all-encompassing offensive threat, capable of giving you 30 every single night. Meanwhile, Garland's impact has fluctuated in ways that are hard to ignore. When both are on the floor, this team hasn't exhibited nearly as much of a natural flow as they should have.
The Cavaliers are running out of time to turn things around
The ripple effects extend beyond just those two. Evan Mobley’s development continues, but the environment around him has not consistently allowed him to dictate games offensively, and there's still questions about his ceiling. Jarrett Allen still fits fine next to Mobley, but his role has felt more reactive than it should be. For a roster built on cohesion, Cleveland has looked oddly disjointed.
A trade feels almost inevitable if this team is to actually compete this year. Cleveland spent all last season proving how high this group’s ceiling could be, but this year has exposed how fragile that formula really was. At some point, patience stops being a virtue and starts looking like indecision, especially when the same issues keep showing up in on a nightly basis.
The rest of the East hasn’t slowed down to wait for Cleveland to figure things out. Teams around them have picked a direction and adjusted when something wasn’t working. The Cavs, by comparison, feel stuck between believing last season was the real version of themselves and recognizing that the league has already adjusted.
The sense of uneasiness is palpable when you watch this team play. You can still see the talent on this roster on any given night, but belief alone doesn’t carry teams through an 82-game season. Eventually, real cohesion has to matter more than theoretical upside.
Last year’s record bought this core time, but this season is quickly burning through that time. The Cavaliers don’t need to panic, but they also can’t afford to pretend this is just a blip. Cleveland is getting close to finding out what happens when you wait too long to make a move.