‘It feels like the start of the Warriors dynasty’: Why the Cavs’ championship window is just opening
As the Cavs prepare for the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed, there’s a growing sense around the team that this season’s success isn’t just a one-off achievement. It’s the beginning of something special.
The foundation for sustained excellence is in place, starting with a Core Four of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen who are all under contract and in their prime years.
“To have all those guys locked up together and on the same timeline for contention, with the exception of Ty Jerome, that’s a really, really good place to be,” Fedor explained of the top eight players on Cleveland’s roster. “It feels like a group that is set up for sustainable success, especially because, look, everybody has an ego. This is the NBA. These are big money players. There are a lot of things that come into play. But the ego, the disease of me, it doesn’t feel like is going to get in the way.”
That “disease of me,” as Pat Riley famously called it, has derailed many promising teams. But the Cavaliers have cultivated a culture of selflessness, starting with their biggest star.
Despite being in the MVP conversation this season, Mitchell has willingly reduced his minutes, shot attempts, and usage rate for the benefit of the team.
“For a superstar, for somebody who has accomplished as much as Donovan has, for somebody who is at least in the conversation for MVP this year, one of the top five spots in MVP this year, for him to willingly take a step back and sacrifice for the betterment of the team and have enough maturity to say, you know what my next step is? My next step is not me doing more. My next step is me doing less,” Fedor noted.
This selflessness has permeated throughout the roster.
Every player understands and accepts their role, creating a cohesion rarely seen in today’s NBA. From the Core Four stars to key rotation players like Max Strus, Dean Wade and Sam Merrill, everyone contributes in ways that maximize team success.
“The pieces just fit together,” Ethan Sands observed on the podcast. “And obviously there could be changes this offseason and we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. But the fact of the matter is, is the core pieces, the known pieces, the top eight players that will get the most minutes in the playoffs, those guys feel like a big help and a big push to what could be the future of the Cleveland Cavaliers.”
What makes the Cavs’ situation particularly enviable is that they’re not hamstrung by salary cap issues or questionable contracts.
Unlike teams like Phoenix with Bradley Beal’s enormous deal, Cleveland has financial flexibility alongside its locked-in core. This gives them room to make adjustments and improvements as needed without having to tear down what they’ve built.
“And I think as long as those things are the case, then I think there’s no reason to believe that the Cavs will be anything but a contender for the next three to four years, at least for as long as this group remains together or the main pieces of this group remain together,” Fedor predicted.
The 2024-25 season has already been historic for Cleveland.
They’ve reached 30 road wins for the first time in franchise history. They’ve improved by 16 wins from last season — tied for the second-largest improvement ever for an NBA team that won 48 or more games the previous year. The only other teams to accomplish that feat were the 1971-72 Lakers and the 2014-15 Warriors.
With Kenny Atkinson proving to be the perfect coach to maximize this roster’s potential, a young core that’s still improving, and a superstar in Mitchell who has fully embraced Cleveland as his home, the Cavaliers have positioned themselves for sustained excellence rather than a brief moment at the top.
As they head into the playoffs with championship aspirations, it’s worth remembering that this could be just the beginning of a special era in Cleveland basketball — one that rivals even the LeBron James years in terms of sustained success.
Want to hear more about the Cavaliers’ bright future and their path to becoming the NBA’s next dynasty? Listen to the full episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast for an in-depth analysis of Cleveland’s long-term outlook and their championship potential for years to come.
