The Cleveland Cavaliers started their 2024 / 2025 NBA Season with a 15-1 run. This was the best start since the 2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Championship team, that year they started at 12-4. That team was different than this Cavaliers team. Lebron James was the leader of that Cavaliers squad. When he decided to return to Cleveland in the summer of 2014, a chain of events was set in motion for trades and free agency moves to bolster the Cavaliers roster. This Cleveland Cavaliers team had a more organic development than the 2014-2018 Cleveland Cavaliers.

Please don’t misunderstand me, the 4 consecutive Eastern Conference Championships and the 2016 NBA Championship was a once in a lifetime experience for Cleveland sports fans. But much of that was done within a year. In the 2014 NBA Draft the Cleveland Cavaliers had the number one overall pick and they picked Andrew Wiggins from Kansas. Two months later he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. The Cleveland Cavaliers went from the number one overall pick in the NBA draft to the NBA Finals in less than 12 months. That was an extremely fast turnaround, and this 2024 Cleveland Cavaliers team feels different. Because they are different.

Lebron James departed Cleveland a second time in 2018, he left for the Los Angeles Lakers, and he did win another championship there in 2020. The Cleveland Cavaliers had to rebuild their roster almost from scratch. Development of draft picks like Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Isacc Okoro laid the foundation for this team. Along with exceptional trades for Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell, this current Cleveland Cavaliers team was cultivated and developed over the last six years. The final piece was the hiring of head coach Kenny Atkinson. His system has fit perfectly with this roster thus far. Could this team bring another championship to Cleveland? I look forward to watching and seeing it happen!