Barring major unforeseen changes, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have a large payroll once again in the 2025-26 season.
After all, they have five players under contract who are set to make at least $20 million in the campaign, and guard Donovan Mitchell and big man Evan Mobley are in line to earn over $46 million apiece.
The Cavaliers have reportedly suggested that owner Dan Gilbert is content with absorbing luxury tax costs, but on one important condition. They have to be title contenders, and the assumption is that Cleveland still views itself in such a light.
“The Cavaliers are indeed trending toward being an apron team for several seasons, with the majority of their key players — apart from upcoming free agents Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill — locked into lucrative deals beyond this season,” NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote. “The financial savings in February were widely interpreted as a means to create as much financial flexibility as possible moving forward for needed roster tweaks rather than as a directive to cut costs.
“The Cavaliers have often suggested that owner Dan Gilbert is comfortable absorbing luxury tax costs as long as the team is a legitimate title contender. It is presumed Cleveland still sees itself in those terms despite an early exit in which injuries certainly contributed to the disappointment of a 4-1 series score.”
Cleveland’s brass, including Gilbert, should seriously ponder as to whether the team’s core as currently constructed has what it takes to reach the NBA’s mountaintop and deliver the franchise its second title ever. The 2024-25 season wasn’t the first rodeo of the Cavaliers rolling with their core four of Mitchell, Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, as they have been teammates for the last three seasons.
Yet, they haven’t led the Cavaliers past the second round of the playoffs in that span.
Before the Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers in a gentleman’s sweep in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, they were a second-round exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Playoffs and got booted by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
On top of Cleveland’s early playoff exits over the last three years, the team’s core members have had trouble staying healthy when Cleveland has needed them most. Garland and Mobley were plagued by injuries against the Pacers. Furthermore, Mitchell and Allen missed parts of the team’s stint in the 2024 NBA Playoffs with injuries.
All in all, Cavaliers fans should be encouraged by the report that Gilbert isn’t afraid to have a high payroll if that’s what it takes to build a title contender, but it’s unclear if the Cavaliers are indeed a title contender after they flamed out in the 2025 NBA Playoffs following an incredibly successful 82-game regular season. Folks shouldn’t rule out the possibility of changes coming in the offseason.