Jaylon Tyson’s subtle reaction to Donovan Mitchell’s ‘championship contender’ comments

Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently that he thinks the team is a championship contender. A post from Cavaliers rookie Jaylon Tyson on X indicates that he too believes Cleveland will contend for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

While Mitchell and Tyson believe the Cavaliers are title contenders, ESPN Bet seemingly isn’t all that bullish on the squad — at least when it comes to the upcoming season. The sportsbook has a whopping 14 teams listed with better odds to win the title than the Cavaliers do, as Cleveland’s odds sit at +5000.

Additionally, according to the online sports betting service, four teams — the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks — have a better chance of representing the Eastern Conference in the 2025 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers share identical odds with the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic to be crowned conference champions at +2000.

Regardless of whether the Cavaliers do end up defying the odds and winning their second title in franchise history this season, Tyson likely won’t be a major contributor unless he can prove that he’s ready for minutes as rookie. For what’s it’s worth, he did turn some heads during training camp.

But it’s hard to envision that the Cavaliers will put themselves in the discussion to win the 2025 NBA title if Mitchell doesn’t play at the top of his game. Despite the fact that he’s an undersized shooting guard — he stands at 6-foot-3 — Mitchell was a first-class offensive player with Cleveland a season ago, and the team will need him to continue to carry the scoring load moving forward.

A strong 2024-25 regular season might set Mitchell and the Cavaliers up for playoff success. For evidence that basketball played in the regular season translates to the playoffs, look no further than the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. Before the Celtics dominated the 2024 NBA Playoffs, they ran all over the league during their 82-game slate, as Boston ended up with a 64-18 record.

Cavaliers fans should be happy that Tyson has expressed confidence in his team, even if he isn’t guaranteed to play a whole lot for Cleveland in the 2024-25 campaign.