Heading into the season, there were many reasons to temper regular-season expectations for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They would be starting the season with key injuries to Darius Garland and Max Strus. And the transactions during the offense shook up rotations and depth to the point where growing pains were to be expected.
But if the Cavaliers’ issues were just tied to key absences and figuring out how to incorporate the new players, then this article would be an overreaction piece.
The Cavs look like a team that doesn’t have any form of identity. In the NBA, an identity as a team is nearly everything. If your team doesn’t know their playstyle, then you cannot analyze and gameplan around your strengths and weaknesses. This is currently a team in purgatory, hurdling like a comet for a crash landing into disappointment. This trajectory has coaches, players, and fans alike all asking a lot of questions.
These are the key issues/flaws that I have noticed during the first 13 games of the season.
Evan Mobley’s usage is all over the place.
Heading into the second year of Mobley under head coach Kenny Atkinson’s tutelage, one assumed we would see at least another leap offensively. Last year, Mobley was used by the Cavaliers in a multitude of new ways. He would bring up the ball, handle his own pick and rolls, shoot more threes, and just looked overall more self-reliant to get his offensive opportunities.
To start the season, it looked like the Cavaliers’ staff put Mobley’s development into hyperdrive. Mobley from the season tip-off is nearly averaging 15 field-goal attempts per game. The profile of the shots, as well, looked to be expanded upon from last year.
Mobley, at a certain point, had taken eight threes per game to start the year. Last season, Mobley would normally take his two three-pointers in the first quarter on designed looks and then spend the rest of the game in the paint. This season, Mobley has taken iso-threes, pulling up in transition, and has just looked ultra-aggressive on ball.
The growing pains are going to show, especially as Mobley, with the way the roster is currently health-wise, is this team’s number two scoring option. That has a floor or ceiling outcome 13 games into the season.
In the games where Mobley’s flashes, he is nearly unstoppable, midrange faders, pull-up threes, and dominant around the rim. Who outside of Victor Wembanyama and Kevin Durant can match those physical gifts?
Unfortunately, the lows look like a guy punching above his level. Is Mobley the guy the staff is asking him to do offensively? Maybe not. The only way to find out is to have him have this trial by fire. Without another nuclear scoring option like Garland on the floor, these pains have graver consequences.
Jaylon Tyson, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, and Craig Porter Jr highlight an effort problem.
Heart and hustle, baby. That’s what put role players on the map. Look no further than the 2025-26 fan sweethearts. Yes, it’s great that Tyson, Tomlin, and CPJ give a damn. Their impact should not be diminished as they truly have buoyed a lot of their minutes shared by what I describe as a sleepwalking team.
The way that those three have shone at various points this season is a double-edged sword.
Yes, you want players who are willing to put in the dirty work. They are the players who swing games and, in the playoffs, sometimes even an entire series.
However, they also shine so brightly night to night, because outside of Donovan Mitchell, the rest of this team really looks like they can’t be bothered.
The way the offense looks, the Cavaliers look like a team afraid of putting their head down and getting in the paint. Instead, the 2025-26 Cavaliers look like a team that just wants to huck up a bunch of inefficient threes. That to me shows a lack of effort.
Defensively, they also look to be the only players committed to playing consistent defense. In the case of Tomlin and Tyson, that usually shows up in the foul count as well. Both players have quickly grown an identity for lacking self-discipline sometimes, but an argument could be made that they are making up for an overall lack of juice on that end as well.
In an ideal world, both players are deployed in more select scenarios, but the combination of team health and overall quality of play is pushing them into the spotlight.
The Cavaliers’ most confusing aspect to start the season has to be the minutes allocation of All-Star center Jarrett Allen. Last season, Allen would only see a flux in minutes if the Cavaliers were double-digit points late in the fourth and they needed to fire away some threes. This season, there appears to be no rhyme or reason to why Allen plays versus the minutes he loses.
Look at the past two games as a great encapsulation of Allen’s season. Against the Miami Heat, Allen showed all the ways he can impact the game when he is being fed the ball. Now, I also completely recognize that he was the most talented player on the floor for the Cavaliers that night. However, a game like that always shows the value Allen brings to a game he is involved in.
Against the Toronto Raptors the following night, it looked like there was hope that the staff used the Miami game to kick-start Allen’s involvement. Actually no. Outside of the first quarter, Allen was not involved at all going forward. There are questions as to why it appears that Allen’s leash is much shorter this season than last year’s. Especially as the team desperately needs their best players on the floor and yes, ALLEN IS ONE OF THOSE PLAYERS.
You can say all the negatives about Allen you want to in the comments. There is no world in which the Cavaliers should willingly play Dean Wade, Thomas Bryant, and Larry Nance Jr over him.
The Cavaliers are five average games from Mitchell away from being a sub-500 team
All of what I have said this far could be seen as “a lot of whining about a team that is 8-5”. I would argue that this record is blinding people to how flawed this team has been through 13 games. If you look at some of their wins really closely, Mitchell’s hyper-efficient start to the year has buoyed the Cavaliers through the same ugly basketball we saw on Thursday.
One could also make the argument that the Cavaliers are currently a near-to-sub .500 team if Donovan Mitchell were human for those games against Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Chicago and Philly. Mitchell’s shooting covers up middling games against lesser competition. The Cavaliers were supposed to be title contenders. That is a label that none of the teams above have garnered.
Now, this isn’t a Mitchell problem by any stretch. He should step up in these moments and usually has a good pulse on the team when it is the right time to put the team on his back. However, if the Cavaliers are going to truly be a title contender this year, it likely won’t be solely because Donovan Mitchell is scoring at a hyper-efficient clip. The whole reason the Cavaliers were supposed to go up a level is that the team as a whole was supposed to take that burden off him.
Now, the Cavaliers look like the same team from their last year under J.B. Bickerstaff: They go only as far as Mitchell goes. That’s not good.
