The Cavaliers are 1-1 and ninth in the East. They have lost twice at Philadelphia's and Orlando's expense and beaten the Nets, and the week left them lower in the power rankings than where it started.
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The standings read 0-1 after the October 22 loss at the 76ers, 106-114. Donovan Mitchell had 32 points and 10 rebounds, and Evan Mobley scored 18. On October 24, Cleveland beat the Nets, 125-121. Mitchell scored 22 and Jarrett Allen scored 21. That win moved the team to 1-1, and the standings on October 25 had it ninth in the East. The earlier results on the board are a 113-124 loss to the Celtics on October 8, a 119-105 win over the Magic on October 11 and a 116-132 loss at the Magic on October 13. James Harden scored 24 against Orlando at home. Meleek Thomas had 16 and Mitchell 15 in the road loss.
The rankings moved the wrong way. Cleveland was ninth a week ago. It fell to 15th on October 22, 19th on October 23 and 22nd on October 24, even as the Nets win came.
The injury picture changed a lot. Nae'Qwan Tomlin went from day-to-day to out with his back on October 20, and a report that day said he would miss at least three to four weeks. On October 22 he was listed as cleared. Khalifa Diop was out with a left knee injury on October 21 and cleared a day later. Allen went on the list with a right knee issue on October 21 and was cleared October 22. Harden was cleared October 11, closing the ankle issue from the opener. Sam Merrill, who picked up a right elbow injury on October 13, was cleared on October 21 and listed day-to-day again the same day. Peyton Watson's last status is day-to-day from October 8, and he showed up in an Eastern notes report on October 20 with no detail attached.
The roster is smaller. It now stands at 17 players: Mitchell, Mobley, Allen, Harden, Watson, Tyson, Merrill, Hezonja, Porter, Proctor, Bryant, Enaruna, Tomlin, Udeh, Diop, Minix and Thomas. Kadary Richmond and Curtis Jones left on October 12. Jaxson Robinson left October 15. Tre'Von Spillers joined October 16 and left October 18. Rashaun Agee, Zack Austin and Noam Yaacov also left on October 18. A report on October 17 said the Cavaliers, Nuggets and Pistons all waived Exhibit 10 players. Darius Garland is still not on the list.
There was also some contract and long-term news. On October 20, the Cavaliers picked up Jaylon Tyson's fourth-year option. On October 21, Mitchell was quoted saying he never wants to wear another uniform. On October 23, a report said Cleveland was in "consideration" for LeBron James during free agency. Nothing in that report says a deal was close.
Mario Hezonja has not turned up in a new report since early October. His name was in rumor roundups on September 26 and October 2, and no transaction has ever been attached to it.
Two games are on the schedule for the week that began October 22: the loss at Philadelphia and the Nets win. A new weekly schedule has not been posted yet.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 25A report on October 20 said he would miss at least three to four weeks, yet he was listed as cleared two days later.
He was cleared October 21 and listed day-to-day again the same day after an elbow injury on October 13.
His last listed status is day-to-day from October 8, and he appeared in an Eastern notes report on October 20.
Cleveland fell from 9th to 22nd in a week, despite the win over the Nets on October 24.
Seven camp and Exhibit 10 additions have left since October 12, and Garland is still off the list.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Donovan Mitchell (11.0 wins without him), Sam Merrill (4.5 wins without him), Evan Mobley (3.8 wins without him), Jarrett Allen (3.5 wins without him) and James Harden (2.9 wins without him): on/off from 2026-27, details under Injuries. Computed Sun, Oct 25; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Eastern Conference · 80 games leftNext 5: vs Timberwolves100%vs Wizards67%at Hawks67%at Bucks0%vs Thunder100%opponents win 67% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
30 days on the recordEarlier on the record26 more days · back to Mon, Sep 14
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
Kenny Atkinson runs this team into 2026-27 off a 52-30 season that ranked ninth in net rating at plus-4.1, built on offense that finished sixth in the league and a defense that slipped to 15th, playing at a pace of 100.7. The core is Donovan Mitchell and James Harden in the backcourt, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen inside, with Peyton Watson, Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill and Craig Porter Jr. filling out the rotation around them. The payroll sits at $209.0 million across 16 contracts, over the $200.4 million luxury tax line and right at the first apron, against a $165.0 million salary cap; Mitchell and Mobley each carry $50.1 million, with Harden at $30.6 million and Allen at $28.0 million. Nearly every first-round pick through 2029 is tied up in swaps, with second-rounders owed to Chicago, Utah and Atlanta; only the 2030 first is fully their own. The summer and training camp brought steady roster churn — Kadary Richmond, Zack Austin, Rashaun Agee and Curtis Jones all came and went, while Jaxson Robinson and Noam Yaacov signed camp deals. The opener on October 8 ended in a 113-124 loss to the Celtics, with Tyson scoring 14 and Tristan Enaruna 13.
Identity and rivalries124 words
This is a team trying to be two-way without quite getting there yet — an offense that ranked sixth in the league running through Mitchell and Harden's shot creation, paired with a defense that fell to 15th despite Mobley and Allen patrolling the paint. At 100.7 possessions a game, they want pace and shot volume to cover for a defense still finding its footing. The season opened against the Celtics, the kind of measuring-stick game that tells a fan where this roster stands against the conference's best, and Cleveland came up short. Central Division business matters too — the team's own rumor coverage groups it with Milwaukee in the division conversation, a reminder that the road through the Central still runs past the Bucks.
Home, owners and numbers100 words
The Cavaliers play at Rocket Arena, their home since 1994, after stops at Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974 and the Coliseum at Richfield from 1974 to 1994. The arena's North Atrium houses the Wall of Honor, introduced in 2019 to recognize former players and personnel, with any retired number or rafter banner carrying a place there too. Mascots Moondog and Sir C.C. work games today — Moondog an All-Star selection in 2003 and 2004, Sir C.C. a swashbuckler character on the floor since 2010 — while Whammer, the polar bear who debuted in 1995, still shows up on occasion.
What they are chasing141 words
The Cavaliers are chasing a defense that climbs back out of the bottom half of the league after finishing 15th last season, something that matters more with the payroll already past the luxury tax at $209.0 million and bumping the first apron. They're also chasing answers in real time: Peyton Watson's hamstring status flipped from cleared to day-to-day on the same day, Harden was listed day-to-day with a right ankle issue after the opener, and the back-end of the roster — camp signees Jaxson Robinson and Noam Yaacov against departures like Richmond, Austin, Agee and Jones — is still sorting itself out. Fans are left arguing over how much of the opening loss to the Celtics was shape of things to come versus shorthanded noise, and whether Mario Hezonja, unresolved in trade and rumor coverage for weeks, factors in at all.
The long view570 words
The Cleveland Cavaliers joined the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team alongside the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves, opening with 15 straight losses. They played at Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974, then the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994, and have called Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland home since 1994, sharing it with the Cleveland Monsters. The franchise has made 25 playoff appearances and won eight Central Division titles, five Eastern Conference titles and one NBA championship.
The team's first winning season came in 1976, when Austin Carr, Bobby "Bingo" Smith, Jim Chones, Dick Snyder, Nate Thurmond and coach Bill Fitch delivered the "Miracle at Richfield," beating the Washington Bullets in a Game 7 decided by Snyder's shot with four seconds left, before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Ted Stepien bought the club in 1980 and ran it through six coaching changes, a 66-180 record, $15 million in losses and a 24-game losing streak; his trading of draft picks led the NBA to adopt the "Stepien Rule." George and Gordon Gund bought the team in 1983, and the Cavs became regular contenders behind Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and Larry Nance under coach Lenny Wilkens, peaking with 57-win seasons in 1988-89 and 1991-92 and a trip to the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals.
The 2003 draft brought LeBron James, an Akron native, with the No. 1 pick. Dan Gilbert bought the franchise for $375 million in a deal finalized March 1, 2005, and with James and Žydrūnas Ilgauskas the Cavs returned to contention, reaching the franchise's first NBA Finals in 2007, where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. The 2008-09 team won a franchise-record 66 games but lost the conference finals to the Orlando Magic. James left for the Miami Heat in 2010, and Cleveland collapsed to a 26-game losing streak, the third-longest in NBA history, before landing top picks that brought Kyrie Irving in 2011.
James returned in 2014, and with Irving and Kevin Love forming a "Big Three," the Cavaliers reached four straight Finals from 2015 to 2018, all against the Golden State Warriors. In 2016 they won the franchise's first title, coming back from a 3-1 deficit, the first team ever to do so in the Finals, and ending Cleveland's championship drought dating to the 1964 Browns. Irving was later traded to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, and James left again in 2018 to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, starting a rebuild under coaches Tyronn Lue, Larry Drew, John Beilein and J.B. Bickerstaff.
The Cavaliers reached the play-in tournament in 2021-22 and returned to the playoffs in 2023 for the first time without James since 1998, losing to the New York Knicks. In 2023-24 they beat the Orlando Magic in the first round before falling to the Boston Celtics. Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett bought a minority ownership stake in October 2023 and serves as a team ambassador. In November 2024 the Cavaliers opened 15-0, tying their second-best start ever, before Boston ended the streak.
Uniform colors have run from the original wine and gold with the feathered "C" and checkerboard pattern, to burnt orange, blue and white starting in 1983-84, to blue, black and orange with the 1994-95 move into the downtown arena, reflecting eras built around the "Miracle of Richfield," the Price-Daugherty-Nance teams, and the two runs of the LeBron James era.