Cleveland Cavaliers fans entered the 2025-26 season with supreme confidence. After a 64-win season ruined by injuries in the postseason, the Cavs were about to right that wrong by laying waste to a severely weakened Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton weren't in the picture. Cleveland's core four very much still was. Expectations were sky high. Why wouldn't they be?
Welp, 38 games into the campaign, and things haven't quite gone according to the above plan, have they? The Cavs are 21-17 and straddling the dreaded playoff/play-in line (they were 33-5 at this point a year ago!).
Moreover, teams across the largely mediocre East have used Cleveland's demise as a massive confidence-booster. Franchises with no business thinking like a contender suddenly feel that they are an Anthony Davis trade away from leapfrogging the Cavs and for the East crown.
The Cavaliers' descent has allowed less-talented teams in the Eastern Conference to dream big
Sam Amick and Christian Clark of The Athletic reported on Jan. 7 that the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors are pursuing Davis. However, it sure sounds like other Eastern Conference clubs are also considering the possibility.
Amick and Clark closed their article by citing a "high-level league source" who said that, “Every team in the East believes they’re an Anthony Davis away from making the finals.”
What could be instilling such a belief more than Cleveland's somewhat unexplainable fall from grace? Everyone expected the New York Knicks to return as contenders. The Detroit Pistons have leveled up in a way that not everyone forecasted.
And what of the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, two huge surprises? Well, teams like Atlanta might be deterred by these unexpected successes, but they might also be asking, 'Why not us, too? And why not now?'
In other words, Cleveland's plunge is the major variable that's made the East even worse than expected (and it was expected to be really bad).
When you're a team like the Hawks, the idea of one or two well-oiled machines at the top of the standings is far less discouraging than three. If the Cavs were operating as they did last season, there'd be far less hope for teams vying for the 6-seed (and below).
The current situation might not last. The Cavaliers have begun to show subtle signs that they are returning to form. But as of now, the state of the East is sort of absurd. We have teams thinking that adding a guy who's rarely healthy (AD) can and will propel them into serious postseason position.