"Each year the core four grows. ... We were one of the only teams in the NBA to have three All-Stars, so I'm not breaking that up," Koby Altman said before the season started. "This is something you want to stick with and like I said, don't take this for granted. This is a special group, this is a special era."
The Cleveland Cavaliers president wanted to 'encapsulate' that feeling with another championship in Northeast Ohio. Amid financial concerns that would make other franchise gulp, Altman made his stance on the core four crystal clear.
In the early parts of the 2025-26 NBA season, that confident choice is still begging to be vindicated. Thus far, the decision is not trending in the direction that all of Cleveland would have hoped for after they doubled down on the core four.
The season is still young. That is what the Cavaliers front office will be saying amid a turbulent start to this campaign. At 14-11, the franchise is far from doomed. However, the sweat is beginning to drip on the brows of all those hoping for the team to finally vindicate the approach in Cleveland.
Keeping the Cavaliers core four together needs to prove its worth
The Cavaliers are the only team in the entire NBA who are over the second apron. That type of commitment demands the results of being one of the very best teams in the league. Early on, Cleveland has failed to meet those expectations.
There are some signs of the Cavaliers trending toward being a contender, and they should not be ignored. As things stand, though, Cleveland would be fighting for their playoff lives in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The Eastern Conference is packed in closely enough that should eventually fade as a genuine problem, with the right type of commitment to improving. Even so, the signs of what this season has brought are troubling.
Defenders of the Cavaliers would quickly point to two things: the team has been rattled by injuries, and the core four has been really good when sharing the court together.
Both of those things are true. Likewise, both of those points come with their own discussions.
Injuries should not be the ultimate excuse for a team that was touted for their depth before the season. The latter was one of the biggest reasons for believing in the Cavaliers.
The core four has indeed been strong together. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen share a 28.1 net rating as a four-man combination in the 57 minutes they have played with each other.
Committing a ton of the cap to just four players is still a troubling endeavor if they cannot reliably stay on the floor together. That early success means nothing if those four are not ultimately available when it matters most.
Luckily for the Cavaliers, the time for that would be the NBA Playoffs. That is still a ways off. However, as much as Cleveland wants to tout this as a multi-year window, a disappointing exit will only spur more pushbacks on the choices of the front office.