The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly kept their eyes on the Philadelphia 76ers for “months,” as they were worried about facing them in a potential first-round playoff matchup. In the end, Cleveland avoided the Sixers in the opening round, earning the No. 4 seed and setting up a matchup with the No. 5-seeded Orlando Magic. Philadelphia, which won in the play-in tournament on Wednesday night, will face the No. 2-seeded New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. “The Cavs had their eye on Philadelphia for months, wondering if the loss of Joel Embiid would drop the Sixers low enough to cr ..read more

Cleveland Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell shared a positive update on his health – both physically and mentally – ahead of the Cavs’ first-round playoff matchup with the Orlando Magic. #Cavs star guard Donovan Mitchell said the headband is so he doesn’t have to get a haircut. He also said he’s 100% both physically and mentally and is excited to start this playoff run. pic.twitter.com/q5zHhLLgLm — Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) April 17, 2024 This is great news for the Cavs, as Mitchell was banged up towards the end of the regular season due to a knee injury and nasal fracture. The 2023-2 ..read more

On Tuesday, NBA veteran Blake Griffin announced his decision to retire from the game of basketball. BREAKING: Blake Griffin has announced that he is retiring from basketball pic.twitter.com/UDBUQzpVNa — Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) April 16, 2024 The 35-year-old, who didn’t play this season, saw action with four organizations during his time in the NBA and will likely be remembered best for his time with the Los Angeles Clippers. While Griffin never played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, several familiar faces — both current and former players for the Cavs — showed love to the former No ..read more

Emoni Bates hasn’t had all that much time to make any kind of impact in the NBA as of yet, but that didn’t stop one fan from issuing a harsh critique that drew a social media response from the Cleveland Cavaliers rookie. Na Fr — Emoni Bates (@BatesEmoni) April 14, 2024 Before responding to the fan, Bates posted some inspiring messages on X. Next year that’s all imma say see y’all next year! — Emoni Bates (@BatesEmoni) April 14, 2024 Hard times don’t last forever kid — Emoni Bates (@BatesEmoni) April 14, 2024 Bates has appeared in just 15 games in his first season with the Cavs and is av ..read more

Max Strus is one of the few Cleveland Cavaliers who has made a deep postseason run, and he is warning his teammates about what is to come in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. “The playoffs are a different beast,” Strus said. “We better be ready to compete. It’s going to be tough. Any series is tough in the playoffs, so we’ll be ready to bring our best and hopefully be ready for it. They know everything about you. They know everything about individuals, plays, your team. I like our chances against anybody, so just be ready for the opportunity.” Last season, Strus was a key player for the Miami Heat as ..read more

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Emoni Bates joined several NBA players in showing love to Dallas Mavericks big man Dereck Lively II and comforting him after he shared that his mother passed away.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Dereck Lively, II (@derecklively) Lively’s mother dealt with a decade-long battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma before passing away on Friday. Bates, Luka Doncic, Grant Williams, Trae Young and others showed support for the young big man. A second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Bates also shared Lively’s Instagram post on his story as another w ..read more

No matter how great a defensive player one might be, a highlight-reel dunk against him could be in the offing at any time. Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen recently commented on such plays, which drew a similar thought from fellow defensive standout Rudy Gobert. The conversation took place with J.J. Redick on his “The Old Man and The Three” podcast. “Jarrett Allen was on recently, and I asked him about his mentality around contesting dunk attempts,” Redick said to Gobert. “And he had this great answer where he said, ‘You’re gonna be on a highlight either way. You might as well try t ..read more

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell admitted that he still needs to build up confidence in his body ahead of the playoffs this season. Mitchell has been out of the lineup quite a bit as of late, dealing with a knee injury and nasal fracture. He’s only played in 54 games this season with just two games to play. “The biggest thing for me is just to continue to build my confidence back up in my body,” Mitchell said after the team’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. “The biggest cure for this is rest. I don’t have time for that. … I consider myself a pretty mentally strong pers ..read more

Former Cleveland Cavaliers and current Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said that he might have been kicked out of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals if a goaltending call had been made when he blocked Andre Iguodala late in the fourth quarter. “All I’m telling myself, I’m like, ‘Swish (J.R. Smith), do not foul him,’” James said. “So, you could ask any of my teammates throughout the course of my career or throughout the course of that season, any time that you see me trailing the play, all I need is a little adjustment from the offensive player and I promise you, I’ll track it down. Do ..read more

LeBron James’ future may be somewhat in flux, and Paul Pierce said a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers might be a good way for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar to wrap up his NBA career. “If [the Lakers] flame out and lose in the play-in, I would consider — if I was LeBron — being traded back to Cleveland for Donovan Mitchell,” said Pierce on an episode of “Undisputed.” “… Bronny gets picked up by [the Cavs], and Bron has his farewell world tour with his son. According to Pierce’s idea, such a trade could be in conjunction with the Cavs somehow adding James’ son Bronny, who has declared for ..read more