1 Thing Cavaliers must do this season (and 2 they hope to accomplish)

3. Hope to accomplish: Advancing to Las Vegas for the In-Season Tournament

Another lofty, but attainable goal. The Cavs were close to advancing to the knockout rounds of the In-Season tournament last year, going 3-1 in group play. They missed out on the quarterfinals and Vegas because of the point differential tiebreaker.

This season, the Cavs are in Eastern Conference Group C with stiff, but beatable, competition in the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Only the Celtics were a playoff team last season, so Cleveland should roll through the other teams in the group. However, winning the group will be a tall task given the fact that Boston is the defending champions and returns almost their entire roster.

If the Cavs win the group in a massive upset, then they will be guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages. If they don’t win and come in second place, they will have to be 3-1 at the least and have a good enough point differential to be the best second-place East team. That means potentially beating out teams like the Bucks, Sixers, Magic, Knicks, or Pacers. 

Fortunately, the Cavs are in one of the easier groups in terms of win percentage from last year, so this is an attainable goal. If they win the group, then that will be a massive victory. Cavs fans shouldn’t count on it though.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have steadily progressed each season since LeBron James exited in 2018. Through incremental growth, the Cavs were in position to leap forward to the playoffs with Donovan Mitchell's arrival in 2022. Now, internal growth and a determined mentality will decide what this team can become in the new era of Cleveland basketball.