The Cleveland Cavaliers stand fifth in the Eastern Conference through seven games, holding onto a 4-3 record.
Much of Cleveland's rocky start can be attributed to the absences of Darius Garland and Max Strus, two starters from last season who have been recovering from surgeries since the offseason. Garland, the Cavs' All-Star point guard, is nearing a return from a turf toe surgery but has yet to make his season debut. His offensive dynamism and playmaking will certainly elevate the Cavaliers' scoring and offensive flow, but his presence likely could not have saved the Cavs from their early struggles.
What has plagued the Cavaliers this year is the same unaddressed flaw that has haunted the team for three years. Cavs insider Chris Fedor offered a brutally honest perspective on the opinion other teams hold about the Cavaliers. Despite winning 64 games last season and having two players named to the All-NBA roster, opposing parties believe the Cavs lack the intensity to win a title.
Sharing a quote from Fedor's Wine and Gold Talk Podcast, the article details what others have told him this season.
"The one thing that has been brought up to me over and over and over again, and I had one person say it to me last night, said, ‘I don’t know that the Cavs have enough MFers’. I guess we’ll wait and see."Chris Fedor
Fedor later explains that rival executives don't see the Cavaliers' roster makeup as one that can achieve a Finals run. From the outside, Cleveland lacks a true enforcer who can set a physical tone for the game. The commentary is not attacking the skills the Cavaliers hold. Instead, it is attacking the same problem that caused the gentleman's sweep in the 2023 New York Knicks first-round series.
Other teams think the Cavaliers look soft.
The Cavaliers have to fix their mentality to win a championship
Put simply, other teams are probably right. From Jarrett Allen's opening night "lights are too bright" joke to the Cavaliers' continuous inability to beat teams on the boards, there is a pervasive lack of intensity that prevents Cleveland from becoming a true contender.
Against the Orlando Magic in 2024, the Cavaliers could barely beat a young and undeveloped Magic squad. In game seven, the Cavs had to mount a historic second-half comeback not to be eliminated in the first round in front of the home crowd for the second consecutive postseason.
For three playoff runs, the Cavs have left humiliated. Against the Indiana Pacers last playoffs, the second round looked to be the Cavaliers' unsurmountable hurdle. In three years, the Cavs have not achieved more than a single win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Again, the Cavaliers have not won plural games in the second round.
Four players of the Cavs' starting five have been named an All-Star since the group was formed. The Cavaliers are the only team in the NBA's new second apron of the luxury tax. Still, other teams do not see them as a true threat.
When J.B. Bickerstaff was fired in 2024, the Cavaliers viewed a coaching change as the final piece necessary to win a title. To his credit, Kenny Atkinson has unlocked a level to the Cavs' offense that Bickerstaff could not. Neither Bickerstaff nor Atkinson have discovered the ingredient necessary to push the Cavaliers to chase rebounds, get physical, be loud or fight back against adversity consistently.
To win a championship, the Cavaliers have to address their fatal flaw before a fourth playoff humiliation forces them to do it in the offseason. In his piece, Fedor later noted that Max Strus is viewed as the Cavs' closest thing to an enforcer. When Strus was named as the "meanest" Cavalier, Fedor said the unnamed source said that's not a good sign for Cleveland.
Finding an enforcer likely means the Cavaliers must explore the trade market. The perfect target is not clear, especially as the Cavs navigate the trade restrictions set by the second apron. Regardless, Cleveland cannot rely on internal growth to fix a problem that their relatively unchanging roster construction has caused.
Nobody wants to cheer for the villain, especially not the Cleveland Cavaliers fanbase. After four years of battling Draymond Green in the Finals, the Cavaliers fans would certainly prefer to avoid hypocritically cheering on a player like him en route to a championship. The Cavaliers don't need Draymond to win. Adding some grit to the roster, though, might finally fix something that has embarrassed them three times in three years.