Over the last few seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the best regular-season teams. They're consistently a top-seeded squad in the Eastern Conference.
They've gotten off to a slower start than usual in 2025-26, but that can mostly be attributed to injuries. Point guard Darius Garland has been in and out of the lineup while recovering from offseason toe surgery, and wing Max Strus has yet to play a game thanks to a foot injury.
But some league insiders believe there's more to the Cavs' sluggish start than just injuries, and pointed to a specific offseason move that has left them hanging.
Do the Cavaliers miss Ty Jerome?
ESPN writer Tim Bontemps reported that league insiders believe the Cavaliers miss former Sixth Man of the Year candidate Ty Jerome and may regret the Lonzo Ball trade.
"In essentially replacing 2025 Sixth Man finalist Ty Jerome with Lonzo Ball, the Cavaliers knew they were risking a lower regular-season ceiling in favor of a higher one in the playoffs. That's exactly what league insiders are seeing through the first month of 2025-26," wrote Bontemps.
"The departure of Jerome and the absence of Darius Garland, who has played just 73 minutes while dealing with a big toe injury, has dropped last season's top-ranked offense to outside the top 10."
It's possible Cleveland already saw this coming and took the calculated risk, hoping for a better outcome in the 2025-26 postseason.
But that doesn't change the fact that they're currently struggling.
"They're not great right now, but they're down at least two starters. Lonzo hasn't been great," a scout told Bontemps.
"Are they better [than last year]? Probably not. They've always needed Evan [Mobley] to get even better, and he's not there yet."
We'll have to see how the rest of the season plays out for the Cavaliers before deciding whether or not they truly made mistakes when constructing this iteration of the team this summer.
More Cavaliers news:
- NBA fines Cavaliers $100k for violating specific league policy against Heat
- Donovan Mitchell breaks down his and Cavaliers' hot start in 2025-26
- Donovan Mitchell defends maligned Cavaliers teammate after victory over 76ers
- Donovan Mitchell reveals interesting motivation after 46-point performance for Cavaliers
- Cavs' Donovan Mitchell ties an NBA record only ever done by Michael Jordan in basketball history
- Is Darius Garland making season debut with Cavaliers tonight vs. 76ers?