Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 marks the start of a new season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The start of the season also marks the start of a new era with head coach Kenny Atkinson at the helm of the team’s decisions on the court. Today we will preview the 2024-25 Cleveland Cavaliers season, their additions, subtractions, and just what you should expect from the Cavaliers as they move forward into year three with star player, Donovan Mitchell.

Added: Head coach Kenny Atkinson, Jaylon Tyson, JT Thor, Luke Travers

Subtracted: Head coach JB Bickerstaff, Marcus Morris, Damian Jones, Isaiah Mobley

The main change for the Cleveland Cavaliers comes at head coach, removing long-time head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after seeming to lose the locker room in the 2023-24 season and with it, adding head coach Kenny Atkinson. Other than this, the roster stays mostly the same as all key players that were on the roster for much of last season either remained on the team or resigned with the team. The reasoning behind this is that Kenny Atkinson is an offensive mastermind in the sport of basketball and because of this, the team hopes to unlock the full potential of the “Core Four” consisting of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Donovan Mitchell who have had issues in the past two years gelling offensively. The offensive issues seem to stem from spacing, as Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley have not been strong 3-point shooters making it hard for all 4 of Cleveland’s stars to fit well together. Injuries also have been a concern when it comes to the “Core Four” as all four members suffered some sort of injury last season making it hard for the Core to have time to again, gel together.

One may ask, if the main four players on the Cavs’ roster aren’t gelling, why haven’t they made a bigger move and that answer comes down to analytics. In the first season the core four played together, 2022-23, the core four had a net rating of +8.2, putting them in the “elite” level of major player groups in the NBA. The net rating, backed by their assist percentage of 65.2% and Effective Field Goal Percentage of 55.4% shows that when these four play together at full health has the potential to be lethal against other NBA teams, it just comes down to health and offensive capability. When speaking about offensive Capability which is where new head coach Kenny Atkinson comes in, the front office and ownership are hoping that Kenny’s offensive prowess will unlock the potential this Cavaliers team has always had.

So finally with all of the stats, moves, and background, what are my expectations for the 2024-25 Cleveland Cavaliers? The line for win-loss for the Cavaliers is set at 48.5 and if the team can stay healthy and gel offensively this year I expect them to not only hit the over but also make a run in the NBA playoffs that goes deeper than either year Donovan Mitchell has been here thus far. If they don’t stay heathy or do not gel to their full potential offensively, I expect the team to move on from either Allen or Garland at the trade deadline, hover around the 44-48 win mark, and have a similar playoff run to last year’s.