Danny Green is pretty familiar with this current Cleveland Cavaliers roster.
The three-time NBA champion spent time with the Cavaliers towards the end of the 2022-23 season, appearing in eight regular season games and four postseason contests after signing with Cleveland towards the end of the 2022-23 season. He also happened to begin his career with the Cavaliers during the 2009-10 season when LeBron James was in his initial stint with the franchise.
Many members of that roster are still key members of the 2025-26 squad, with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen still around.
While it’s early on in the season, the Cavaliers are obviously not off to the scorching start that they had last year when they began the 2024-25 season with a 15-0 record. It was not only the best start in franchise history, but it was also tied for the second-best start in NBA history.
Through the first 11 games of the year, the Cavaliers are 7-4. While it’s a respectable mark — they have the fourth-best record in the East — they’ve already suffered losses to the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics early on in the season.
Some of those struggles have been due to the injury absences of Garland and Max Strus, but Green is still not impressed.
“They’re not where I expected them to be,” said Green in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his new podcast “No Fouls Given.” “I know they’ve had injuries. They had Strus out. They had Darius Garland out to start the season. I think De’Andre Hunter missed a game or two. I don’t know. They just don’t look polished right now.”
Green pointed out that some Cavaliers role players are stepping up amid the injury absences, but mentioned that the departure of former backup guard Ty Jerome is affecting them in a major way.
Jerome averaged 12.5 points and 1.1 steals per game on 51.6 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from beyond the arc last season. The 28-year-old signed a free agent deal with the Memphis Grizzlies in the offseason.
“I know they have some guys stepping up,” said Green of the Cavaliers. “De’Andre is playing very well right now. Sam Merrill is playing very well for them. I think with the absence of — it may seem like a small thing — but Ty Jerome was a big piece of what they did last year. I think they’re going through some changes and trying to figure it out.”
The Cavaliers obviously suffered a tough loss against the Miami Heat in overtime on Monday night. Despite Donovan Mitchell converting on a game-tying trey with 0.4 seconds remaining in OT, the Heat won, 140-138, with an Andrew Wiggins alley-oop dunk off the inbound.
Mitchell is having an amazing start to the season, averaging 30.4 points, 5.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game on career-high marks of 51.0 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Green acknowledged that Mitchell is not a guy that he worries about, saying that the 29-year-old will “always” be one of the top guards in the NBA.
However, he still stressed that while the Cavaliers are “solid,” they’re not at the level he expected them to be early in the season.
“Cleveland, they’re solid, but they’re not where I expected them to be,” said Green. “I expected more. It’s still early, so I’ll give a better analysis and see where they’re at right around Christmas time or right after Christmas time. You’ll hear about it on the pod of where I think they are because that’s when you’ll get a good gauge of where that group is going to be. If you’re not decent by Christmas time, if you’re not where you’re supposed to go by Christmas time or the All-Star break, you’re in trouble.”
The Cavaliers obviously posted the best record in the East last season at 64-18. However, they fell early in the NBA playoffs last season at the hands of the Indiana Pacers in the second round.
Green says until the Cavaliers prove otherwise in the playoffs against the elite teams of the conference, they’re always going to be viewed as the “little brother.”
“Until they get over that hump and show that they’re not little brother anymore, nobody is going to believe in them,” said Green.