”Not Sold on the Cavaliers”: Charles Barkley Picks Knicks as 2nd Best Eastern Team Despite Cavs’ Hot Start

Coming into the 2024-25 season, the Knicks, Magic, and the 76ers were touted to take a massive leap and challenge the Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown. However, none of the three have lived up to their billing. Instead, the Cavaliers emerged as a force to be reckoned with. They started the season 15-0, breaking the franchise for the best start to a season, and are the top-ranked team in the league. But despite their historic run so far, Charles Barkley refuses to believe in their credentials as title contenders.

Instead, the Hall of Famer believes the Knicks and Magic are the second and third-best teams in the East behind the Celtics and will eventually usurp the Cavaliers in the standings. On Inside the NBA, Barkley said,

“I personally think the Knicks are gonna be the 2nd best team in the East when all the smoke clears, and I think Orlando has a chance. I’m not sold on the Cavaliers, I don’t care what their record is.”

“I personally think the Knicks are gonna be the 2nd best team in the East when all the smoke clears, & I think Orlando has a chance. I’m not sold on the Cavaliers, I don’t care what their record is…”

–– Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/3B8aJUOdAI

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 4, 2024

The analyst isn’t the only one with little faith in Cleveland’s ability to sustain their stellar start to the season. Many fans have compared them to the 2014-15 Hawks, who finished first in the Eastern Conference standings with a 60-22 record after finishing eighth in the previous campaign. They made it to the Conference Finals, where the LeBron James-led Cavaliers thrashed them 4-0.

The common consensus is that the 2024-25 Cavaliers will either flame out as the season progresses or run into a juggernaut like the Knicks or Celtics in the playoffs, who will end their season. However, Donovan Mitchell believes the roster is destined for more.

Donovan Mitchell is eyeing a championship

In an interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, the star guard claimed that the Cavaliers are built to win a championship and can achieve their goal as long as they remain injury-free. He said,

“We’re championship contenders when we’re healthy. I feel like last year we grew in a lot of ways. We played a lot of different ways. Now during that stretch, we went on, obviously D.G. [Darius Garland] and Evan [Mobley] were hurt. But we found something that really can help bring us to the next level. So now the trick is how do we continue to implement that style of play over 82 [regular-season games] and then the final 16 [playoff] wins… I believe in the hunger and the will that we have as a group.”

Not many have faith in the Cavaliers’ championship aspirations. However, Mitchell and his teammates believe they can upset the odds and bring another title to Cleveland.