‘No excuses’: NBA exec says Cavs need to make 2026 Finals or blow up roster

For several reasons, this coming season might mark the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best chance to win a championship with the team as currently constructed. That’s due in part to the fact that two of the top players in the Eastern Conference are set to miss extended periods of time with Achilles injuries.

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has already been ruled out for the 2025-26 campaign, and while the door isn’t shut on Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum returning in the season, folks shouldn’t expect him to see the court again for a while.

With Haliburton and Tatum on the shelf and the Pacers and Celtics looking a lot less intimidating as a result, one anonymous NBA executive said that if the Cavaliers can’t reach the 2026 championship series via a weakened East, it will be time to blow up the roster.

“If they can’t win the East while Tyrese and Tatum are out, just blow up the roster,” the NBA executive said, per Dallas Hoops Journal. “Because if they can’t win the conference with those two guys out, they won’t win it the following season when they’re back. Next season is do-or-die for this core.”

The executive also hypothesized that the Cavaliers could get quite a bit in return for the likes Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen.

“They have to make the NBA Finals next year,” the executive said. “There are no excuses. I don’t see one team in the East better than them with Tyrese and Tatum out. I think they’re better than New York. If they don’t win the East next season, Koby [Altman] and Dan [Gilbert] should blow it up and start over because Tyrese and Tatum will be back in 2026.

“They can get a huge haul for Donovan and Jarrett and just build for the future around Evan [Mobley]. They’ll probably get expiring contracts for Darius [Garland].”

The Cavaliers have been frustratingly unsuccessful in the playoffs with their “core four” of Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen. Cleveland has made the playoffs in each of the last three years with that quartet leading the way but has won just two playoff series in that span.

Plus, the Cavaliers haven’t made it past the second round, and the team recently got eliminated in five games by the Pacers in that round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

It would be reasonable to question whether Cleveland could ever get over the hump in the playoffs with the current team intact if it failed to exercise its playoff demons once again in 2026. With any luck, the Cavaliers will not only qualify for the 2026 NBA Finals but win their second title in franchise history. Cleveland hasn’t won an NBA title since the year 2016, when it still employed franchise legend LeBron James.

Some more time still has to pass before the Cavs will begin their journey in the 2025-26 campaign, but anticipation is certainly building among anyone who likes the team’s chances.