Following an eventful offseason, the Celtics, Knicks, and 76ers were expected to be the frontrunners to win the East. However, the Cavaliers have put the league and their conference on notice with their incredible 8-0 start to the season. It’s the joint-best start to a campaign in franchise history, equaling the record set by the 1976-77 roster. However, that team fizzled out after their stellar start and finished 43-39.
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When guard Donovan Mitchell was told about the fate of the last Cavaliers team that started a season 8-0 during a press conference, he turned a deaf ear to it and claimed that the current roster was enjoying the moment and taking it one game at a time. He said,
“We’re not doing that. I did know that. It’s great. Obviously, you want to enjoy the little things on the road and it’s great to have that, but at the end of the day it’s been eight games.”
As grounded as the team is trying to be, it’d be difficult for them to resist the temptation to wonder if they can finish atop the Eastern Conference standings and potentially set a new franchise record for wins in the regular season.
However, it will take a Herculean effort, as they’d have to win 67 games to beat the current record set by the 2008-09 roster, which LeBron James led. But they have the tools to achieve that feat.
The strength of the 2024-25 Cleveland Cavaliers
Unlike the 2008-09 team, which had arguably the best player in the world leading the charge, the current roster doesn’t have a standout star. Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen have all stepped their game up to help the Cavaliers get off to an 8-0 start. They have been tested in every way possible and have still come out on top, a feat that Mitchell is proud of. During a press conference, he said,
“We’ve won in so many different ways. That’s been more impressive to me than the eight wins, just how we’ve done it. We’ve had blowouts. We’ve had close games. We’ve come back. Every night it’s somebody new.”
The key to their success hasn’t been a new player but rather a new head coach. The team fired J.B. Bickerstaff despite him leading the team to a 48-34 record and hired former Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson to lead the franchise this year. While the move surprised many at the time, it proved to be a masterstroke from the Cavaliers’ front office.
Cleveland has improved on both ends of the floor under Atkinson’s tutelage. Their offensive rating jumped from 114.7 last season to a league-best 121 this year. Their defense, their head coach’s specialty, has also improved and boasts a 108.3 rating, which ranks fifth in the NBA.
The 2008-09 roster also took a big leap on both ends of the floor but under different circumstances.
Comparing the 2008-09 Cleveland roster with the 2024-25 roster
The 2008-09 Cavaliers team was not the strongest team on paper. Not many expected a core of Mo Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, and 34-year-old Ben Wallace to make noise in the Eastern Conference. However, they had LeBron James, who was in his prime, which made a massive difference.
The forward played 81 games, the most in his career until that point, and averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.7 steals. While his scoring dipped slightly from the previous campaign, his defense took a massive leap. He finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year award race behind Dwight Howard and won the MVP award for the first time in his career.
His two-way impact elevated his teammates’ game significantly, especially Williams, who earned his only career All-Star nod. The team’s offensive rating shot up from 104.8 to 111.2 and their defensive rating improved from 105.4 to 101.4.
The 2024-25 roster plays a similar brand of physical defense with Jarrett Allen as the anchor. However, offensively they have more difference-makers than the 2008-09 team, who relied heavily on James.
In Cleveland’s first game this season against the Raptors, Mitchell took over and dropped 30 points, three rebounds, and four assists to lead his team to a blowout win. In the second game against the Pistons, Garland dropped 39 points in a 113-101 win.
The following night against the Wizards, Allen shot 10-of-10 from the floor and finished with 23 points in 25 minutes. In their victory over the Lakers, Mobley scored 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
The Cavaliers’ best players are playing their part, but for the team to break the franchise record for wins in a season, at least one of the star quartet will need to have a career year. The most likely candidate is Mitchell.
Can Donovan Mitchell have an MVP-caliber season?
Teams that have won over 65 games in the recent past have either had an impeccably stacked roster like the Heat in the 2012-13 season, the Warriors from 2014 to 2017, and the Spurs in the 2015-16 season, or a superstar has had an otherworldly campaign like James Harden with the Rockets in the 2017-18 campaign.
The current Cavaliers roster has several terrific players but isn’t stacked to the brim with All-Stars like those Heat or Warriors teams. Mitchell, a five-time All-Star, will have to step up and put together an MVP-level campaign and hope his teammates continue to play at the level they have showcased this season for Cleveland to have a shot at breaking the franchise record for wins.
Can the Cleveland Cavaliers trump the 2008-09 record?
While the Cavaliers have been perfect this season, their wins have come against teams they are expected to beat. The Raptors, Pistons, and Wizards are among the favorites to pick first in the 2025 NBA draft. Cleveland faced the Lakers when they were 3-0 but have since dropped to 4-3. The Bucks have been horrendous this season and their back-to-back losses to the Cavaliers saw them drop to 1-6.
They have registered impressive wins over the Knicks and Magic, but the rest of their schedule has been relatively easy. However, Cleveland will argue they can only beat the teams they face and to their credit, they have made light work of their opponents. They look well-rounded with four stars peaking at the same time.
Even if the 67-win mark is in the realm of possibility, they likely won’t chase it too hard, considering Mitchell, Mobley, and Garland’s injury histories. None of the three played 60 regular season games last year, while Allen, who appeared 77 times, missed eight of their 12 playoff outings.
The Cavaliers will prioritize playoff success and manage their players’ load, especially in the last quarter of their regular season schedule. However, if they chase the 67-win mark to ensure they finish atop the Eastern Conference standings and secure home-court advantage in the playoffs, they have the tools and the talent to achieve it.
