Darius Garland shows no lack of confidence with bold statement about Cavaliers

It is easy to talk hypotheticals that do not need to be backed up after the fact, but it should still be encouraging to everyone with rooting interest in the Cleveland Cavaliers to hear what Darius Garland had to say. The All-Star point guard clearly had no doubt about a title being within reach for the Cavs.

Garland was asked how far last year's team could have gone if everybody was fully healthy during an appearance for SiriusXM NBA Radio. There was no hesitation in the reply from the Cavaliers guard.

"I think we would have won it. I'll say that pretty confidently," Garland answered. "It's just the talent of this group is just out the roof. The will that we have on both sides of the ball. ... I felt I was pretty good in the first round. So yeah, I'll say that confidently. I think that we would have [won]."

Garland highlighted the incredible defense of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the presence of Donovan Mitchell, plus De'Andre Hunter and Max Strus 'coming along' as key components of a great team. While the Cavaliers will not get a do-over of last year's NBA Playoffs, they will get another crack at a title that their starting point guard believes they are more than capable of winning.

Garland's bold claim puts added pressure on Cavaliers to break through

Garland just wrote a check that Cleveland will need to cash in 2025-26. If health was the only thing standing in the way of the Cavaliers and a championship, that is something that needs to be proven true this season.

The continuity will be there for this group in the campaign set to officially start in a couple of nights. The core group highlighted from last season's shortcomings is completely back. Cleveland just needs to figure out how to properly integrate a few new pieces.

Organizational structure and chemistry has certainly a strong point for the Cavaliers. Mixing in Lonzo Ball, bringing back Larry Nance Jr., and sprinkling in some Thomas Bryant should all be doable tasks for the new formula in Cleveland.

This team is truly spoiled when it comes to the depth of this roster. On paper, it can easily be viewed as a better group than last year's Cavaliers team.

With Garland's confident statement about the upside they missed out on last season, and a weakened path to the NBA Finals in the new campaign, the Cavaliers are quickly running short on excuses. Hopefully for the star point guard, Cleveland can support his big talk.