CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the latest episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor didn’t mince words when discussing what he believes is holding the Cavaliers back from true championship contention.
When asked directly if Cleveland’s core needs to be changed, Fedor’s response was blunt and unequivocal.
“Yeah. If the goal is to win a championship, yes,” Fedor said.
Cleveland has enjoyed regular-season success, boasting one of the NBA’s top offenses and finishing as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed this past season. But Fedor believes the way the team is built fundamentally limits its postseason ceiling.
His concerns center on two key members of the Cavs’ Core Four.
“I just have legitimate questions about two of their four most important players when it comes to playoff level basketball. The physicality, the intensity, the demand, the competitiveness. I just wonder about Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland,” Fedor said.
Throughout the conversation, Fedor contrasted Cleveland’s roster with those of this year’s NBA Finalists — Indiana and Oklahoma City — who, he noted, feature greater versatility, depth, and what he calls “winning players.”
“I don’t believe the Cavs are good enough. I don’t believe their core is good enough when it comes to winning a championship. I don’t believe their core is ready enough when it comes to winning a championship,” Fedor continued, reinforcing his point.
While he expressed confidence in Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley as playoff-caliber contributors, his skepticism around Allen and Garland stood out. For Garland, specifically, Fedor questioned whether his offensive brilliance can consistently overcome long-standing defensive concerns.
Podcast host Ethan Sands offered a counterpoint, suggesting that Garland might still grow under new head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“The organization would be mistaken not to give Darius one more shot, to give Kenny Atkinson one more shot in this offense,” Sands said, arguing for patience and internal development.
“I think that \[Garland’s\] opportunity when healthy is important for Kenny Atkinson’s development as a head coach and also for Darius Garland’s professional growth and to figure out if he is capable of being a winning player in this league.”
The exchange crystallized the question looming over Cleveland’s offseason: Is organic growth from within enough, or does serious title contention require a more dramatic roster shake-up?
For Fedor, the answer is clear. While he acknowledged potential for internal improvement, he argued that championship success in today’s NBA hinges more on fit, versatility, and postseason skillsets than sheer talent alone.
“I think fit matters a great deal. I think depth matters a great deal. I think style matters a great deal. I think versatility within a roster matters a great deal,” Fedor said, casting doubt on whether Cleveland’s current makeup checks those boxes.
Here’s the podcast for this week:
_Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions._