So, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season came to a thud in the Eastern Conference finals, getting swept by the New York Knicks, including home losses by 13 and 37 points.
There were a lot of crazy things said toward the end of the series angering both fans and the media, both local and national, so there was a lot of speculation that Kenny Atkinson would lose his coaching gig as a result.
To be honest, we are glad Dan Gilbert and the front office took a deep breath and looked at the big picture and decided to keep Atkinson in place, and he kept president of basketball operations Koby Altman as well.
The Cavs did win 116 regular season games over the past two seasons under Atkinson’s guidance, and they did advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2018. We cannot erase that accomplishment.
However, the things we have talked about concerning the roster over the past several seasons came to bear in these playoffs, even though they won two series.
We are hoping both Altman and Atkinson are staying because there is an understanding that the current roster is not geared to winning in the playoffs and in Altman’s case, he knows the league continues to evolve and he needs to get more size both in the post and on the wings.
Today’s NBA requires more players who can play on both ends of the floor, can create their own shots and guards and small forwards are getting taller every year.
If that’s the understanding, the roster will have to go through a series of changes.
Atkinson took heat during the season for his four guard lineup, and we agree the coach could have done a better job spacing out minutes for his big men, but the reality is out of the top nine players on the roster, six of them are guards, and we are talking about the roster after the trading deadline.
To be fair, Altman did bring in Thomas Bryant and Larry Nance Jr. in the off-season, but the coaching staff didn’t believe they were playable during the post-season. Bryant played just 41 minutes in the 18 playoff games and Nance just five. We felt both could have helped more during the regular season.
There is no argument about getting bigger, versatile players who can create their own shot. The Cleveland roster has too many players who are one-dimensional. Dean Wade is a very good wing defender that apparently refuses to play offense. Sam Merrill is a three-point shooter and though he’s a better defensive player than given credit for, if his shot isn’t falling, why should he get minutes?
Toronto’s length gave the Cavs troubles. The Knicks’ versatility was a problem. That’s what Altman and the front office have to combat this summer. They definitely need another big man to back up Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, assuming no trades involving them, and some bigger wing players.
We thought De’Andre Hunter would be the latter, but he just didn’t work out.
They also need some tougher players, not physically, but mentally. Players who can handle the playoff atmosphere. There were far too many games in the playoffs where there didn’t seem to be a match of the opponent’s intensity.
The defense also has to improve. We have asked over the last half of the season who is responsible for coaching the defense, and we still don’t know. What we do know is it wasn’t very good. The Cavs allow a very high percentage of three point makes, and a lot of that is there are a lot of wide-open looks from long distance.
So, the management stayed the same, but you would think there has to be better results in the 2026-27 season or there could be a complete cleaning of the people running the wine and gold.
One should hope for a busy summer for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 