The Cleveland Cavaliers are living on borrowed time with their current second apron situation. That is why the conversations surrounding the importance of this current contention window are endless for the franchise.
That is also why when The Athletic's NBA Daily podcast discussed the contenders under the most pressure heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, the Cavaliers were an obvious choice. Fred Katz painted the picture of what Cleveland is facing nicely.
Katz contrasted the two main contenders in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers and the New York Knicks. The Knicks have just enough flexibility to keep their core together for some prolonged contention. The Cavaliers do not have that luxury.
"Cleveland, right now, is the most expensive team in the NBA," Katz noted. "They are well over the second apron. ... We have seen that if a team is not a title team, especially with the repeater tax, ... teams cannot be that expensive if they are not good enough."
Cavaliers will need to follow Celtics' gameplan is title push fails
Katz highlighted how quickly the Boston Celtics freed themselves from the second apron when Jayson Tatum when down with an Achilles injury. Boston's core had delivered a championship, but as soon as that was no longer in the cards, the Celtics wiped the slate clean.
Brad Stevens and the front office moved off the players they deemed less integral to the continued success of the Celtics down the line. They traded away Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks and sent Jrue Holiday packing to the Portland Trail Blazers.
There was even some murmurings about teams inquiring on the availability of Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, but the Celtics ultimately shut those conversations down. The message was clear regardless, that financial toll was not worth paying for anything less than championship success.
Where does that leave the Cavaliers in the circumstances of things falling apart in 2025-26? In all likelihood, some combination of Jarrett Allen, De'Andre Hunter, and Max Strus would be packing their bags for a new home.
To be crystal clear, this would be the 2026 offseason in question. Moving off those players during the upcoming season would be a mistake.
However, when the league comes to collect, if the Cavaliers are not undeniably on the doorsteps of a championship with this group, tough decisions will need to be made. Cleveland will need to be ready and willing, if it comes to that.