On paper, the Cleveland Cavaliers possess one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. In practice, every time one of the core members of the team is absent, the Cavaliers look so much worse off for it. Despite all the reinforcements, they clearly lose a step every time someone major is out.
Take this recent stretch without Jarrett Allen as a great example of that. His knee was never supposed to be a long-term issue for the Cavaliers, according to Kenny Atkinson. However, Allen has now missed five games and is slated to miss at least the next three with right knee tendonitis after the team announced the starting center would not travel with them on their upcoming road trip.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 16, 2026
How have the Cavaliers looked during that stretch? Underwhelming. They have gone 2-3 and their defense has clearly looked worse off for his absence.
The situation highlights the bigger issue at hand. The Cavaliers are not built to withstand injuries to their top four guys. For as talented of a roster as Cleveland has, there is incredible fragility in the winning formula that is directly tied to having their stars available.
Cavaliers will not win a title if just one of the main players is missing
On one hand, of course any team in the NBA is going to be worse when their best players are missing. That much is a given. However, there are other franchises out there who do a much better job at navigating those hurdles.
Take the defending champions as the epitome of that. The Oklahoma City Thunder have such a sound and reliable system in place that largely missing Jalen Williams never truly phased them in the first half of the season. The culture and expectations set by Mark Daigneault keep his team humming regardless.
Need another case study? How about the Boston Celtics?
The Celtics cut loose Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason. Boston did not have Jayson Tatum until March. Joe Mazzulla has his team three and a half games back of the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
For the Cavaliers, too often have any shortcomings with the team become a conversation of who is not available. That is not an encouraging sign of how they stack up against their rival contenders.
The Cavaliers better hope everyone is around in the springtime. Otherwise, they will be in a heap of trouble. If just one of those main guys is missing, the excuse will be obvious immediately. The thing with that is, it will no longer be an acceptable one after years of falling short.