The Cleveland Cavaliers are fresh off one of their best seasons in franchise history.
It was, by all means, the best season not featuring LeBron James in franchise history.
Unfortunately, the final outcome wasn’t as positive.
Then again, this team showed that they can compete at the highest level and hold their ground against the best of the best.
That’s why team insider Chris Fedor reports that the front office has the utmost confidence in Kenny Atkinson, and they believe they can make a serious run at an NBA championship next season:
“There’s a lot of confidence from Kenny, and there’s a lot of confidence from people inside this organization that the Cavs are ready to compete for a championship, and they do believe that they learned what they needed to learn. We’ll see. It has to play itself out, but they do believe they learned what they needed to learn from the latest playoff exit,” Fedor said on the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast.
Truth be told, there’s nothing not to like.
Granted, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have been no-shows in the playoffs for most of their careers, and Donovan Mitchell has yet to get past the second round of the postseason.
All in all, however, this core plays too well together, and their offseason additions should only take this team forward.
More than that, the Eastern Conference is going to be up for grabs next season.
Damian Lillard returned to the Portland Trail Blazers, all while Tyrese Haliburton is expected to miss the whole season with a major injury.
The same goes for Jayson Tatum, who’s most likely to be out for the entire season, or at least for most of it.
As for the Philadelphia 76ers, most reports from Paul George and Joel Embiid are far from encouraging.
The table is set, and while it won’t be easy, there will be no margin for error for this team anymore.
NEXT: Cavs' Big 3 Given Impressive Ranking Among NBA's Best Trios
