The Cleveland Cavaliers pushed a lot of chips into the middle of the table last summer, sending a pile of picks and three players to the Utah Jazz in exchange for dynamic shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. The move paid off in 2022-23, with the Cavs leaping up to 51 wins and finishing with the league’s second-best point differential.
While the team did lose in the first round in a definitive fashion, the future is bright in Cleveland. Yet there is also the looming specter of Mitchell’s free agency, which could come as early as the summer of 2025.