The 2025-26 season could certainly be one to remember for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Can they deal with the weight of massive expectations and win the ultimate prize? That remains to be seen, but here are five bold predictions for a Cavaliers season that plenty of fans are hoping ends in celebration.
1. The Cavs rattle off an 11-game winning streak once Darius Garland returns
As expected, Cleveland’s starting floor general misses some time to start the coming season as he nurses his toe injury. Garland had toe surgery in June, and even though his original timetable left the door open for an October return, it seems likely that he won’t see game action this month.
Garland makes his long-awaited return in the Cavaliers’ Nov. 10 bout against the Miami Heat, and his return marks the start of their longest winning streak of the season. With fellow guard Donovan Mitchell no longer having to carry such a huge scoring lead and Garland back to help close games, the Cavaliers rattle off a winning streak that spans the rest of November.
Cleveland goes on to win 11 games in a row, and the victories continue to stack up until the team loses to the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 1. The defending Eastern Conference champions — though defanged — still have some key members of the team that came up just short of a championship last season and a great head coach in Rick Carlisle. They prove to be too much for Cleveland to handle that night.
2. The squad finishes as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, again
As the 2024-25 season progressed, there was never much doubt that Cleveland was going to finish as the No. 1 seed in the East, and a similar story will play out in the coming campaign.
The team will actually win fewer games than it did a season ago, but 60 victories will still be more than enough to secure the top spot in a conference that’s noticeably weaker on paper than it was last season.
Two of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference in recent years are looking a lot less threatening to the Cavaliers right now. The Pacers will be without floor general Tyrese Haliburton — who had some big games against Cleveland in the 2025 NBA Playoffs — for the entirety of the coming season. In addition, forward Jayson Tatum will miss at least a good chunk of the Boston Celtics’ campaign with an Achilles injury of his own.
Plus, the New York Knicks have a brand new head coach at the helm, meaning they could go through some growing pains. The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, have a new-look roster after losing guard Damian Lillard and adding big man Myles Turner.
As a result of the Pacers and Celtics taking noticeable steps back and some other teams facing question marks, the Cavaliers will once again be the clear-cut best team in the Eastern Conference, at least in the regular season.
3. Lonzo Ball plays in just 50 of Cleveland’s 82 regular-season games
Ball has a skill set that should help the Cavaliers out a lot on the court, but the prediction here is that fans of the team won’t see him in the lineup every night this season.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has played just 35 games in the last three seasons combined, and he won’t be eclipsing that number by much in his maiden season as a Cavalier.
Ball will play in a bit over half of the games on the Cavaliers’ schedule. Ultimately, he’ll suit up in 50 games, but his limitations won’t be due to injury. Rather, the Cavaliers will exercise extreme caution with Ball and not play him on back-to-backs or push him during lengthy road trips.
On the bright side, Cleveland’s smart maneuvering will have Ball healthy for the start of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
4. The Cavs finally get over that second-round hurdle with their core
A common criticism of Cleveland’s “core four” is that they have yet to lead the team past the second round of the playoffs despite being so talented. The likes of Garland, Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are likely tired of hearing about how the Cavs can’t get over the hump in the playoffs, but they will this year.
The prediction? The Cavaliers will actually use home-court advantage to their advantage this time around after they dropped three home games in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs alone.
Let’s get bold: Cleveland will play the Pacers, Celtics and Knicks in the first three rounds of the playoffs and win all those series somewhat handily. The Knicks end up being the only team in the East to take the Cavaliers to six games, as they sweep the Pacers in the first round and beat the Celtics in five.
Cleveland then stamps its ticket to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2018, and Mitchell earns the MVP award for the Eastern Conference Finals after he scores 30-plus points in four of the six contests.
5. The franchise wins its first NBA title since 2016
All of the ups and downs the Cavaliers have experienced over the last decade or so will feel worth it when Mitchell is holding up the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the 2026 NBA Finals.
However, the ultimate prize won’t come easily for the Cavaliers, as they will face their stiffest competition of the playoffs in the Finals. Cleveland will do battle against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, led by 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The series will go the distance and span seven games, but a 42-point scoring outburst from Mitchell on the road in Game 7 will be just enough to propel the Cavs to basketball immortality. Such a spectacular performance with a title on the line will have fans of the team reminiscing on franchise icon LeBron James’ incredible showing in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.