"A Donovan Mitchell-led team has never been to the conference finals. Donovan Mitchell, you got a coach fired. You got J.B. Bickerstaff fired. This is a fact. You had no communication with that man while he was there. You didn't like him, right? Soon as he got fired, you signed a contract extension, right? You extended with the Cavs," Perkins said.

According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has made the film room his “second home” since the team’s playoff exit.  The Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of this year’s playoffs in five games.

During his press conference on Monday, Atlman said Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley needs to do more for the team in the playoffs. Mobley won the Defensive Player of the Year Award this season and made his first All-Star team.

Pro sports figures aren't always honest in their public messaging, but Cavs executive Koby Altman's stated desire to keep the core four is convincing.

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner talks to head coach Rick Carlisle in the second half of Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy

Cavs series, 48 of 50 predictions went with Cavaliers. "It's impossible to pick against them." The two who did? They work for IndyStar.

Two years after the Cavaliers were knocked out of the NBA playoffs by a burly Knicks team, the Cavs lacked toughness in other ways vs. the Pacers.

"I'm sorry that their season had to end like this," Rick Carlisle said after his fourth-seeded Pacers eliminated Cleveland despite the Cavs' 64 wins and Coach of the Year honors.

For the second straight season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have failed to advance past the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. And this time around, it's hard to label it as anything other than an abject failure.