Indiana Pacers division rival offseason check-in: Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs are banking on a coaching change

Mar 18, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) shoots the ball while Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers division is full of change. The Chicago Bulls are rebuilding, the Milwaukee Bucks added talent, and the Detroits Pistons have a new coach and new veterans. The Central Division will have different battles next year.

But when the Pacers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, things will look almost identical to the way they appeared in 2023-24. As of this writing, the Cavs have added just one player during the offseason, and it was via the draft. They selected Jaylon Tyson with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and have not added anyone in free agency yet.

Meanwhile, players from last year's Cleveland roster are still looking for a new deal. Damian Jones, Marcus Morris, Tristan Thompson, and Isaac Okoro are still free agents while the Cavs have three open roster spots. They are juggling their distance from the luxury tax with their need to add talent.

As things stand right now, Cleveland appears as if they will have an extremely similar roster in 2024-25 to the one they had last season — when they finished fourth in the Eastern Conference. But they still made a major change. The wine and gold fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and hired Kenny Atkinson, who should change the team's style.

Atkinson has a strong player development background and made several Brooklyn Nets players improve during his last head coaching stint. The Cavs, who have some very important young talents in Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, could use that from Atkinson.

Their new head coach just wrapped up a stint with Golden State as an assistant. If he can take some of his offensive learnings from the Warriors to the Cavs, that would help Cleveland. They need more creativity on that end.

As it stands, the 49-win team from last season projects to have almost an identical rotation in 2024-25. Led by Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, the Cavs will be tough to topple any night. They'll almost always get enough stops, and they can score with anybody thanks to their dynamic backcourt.

How much better they will be could all come down to the style changes implemented by Atkinson. Perhaps Garland or Mobley takes a step forward, too, or maybe Tyson can add something in year one. It's hard to imagine the Cavaliers being worse. But they seem to have a similar ceiling to last season when they fell in the second round of the playoffs.

In 2023-24, Indiana and Cleveland split their season series 2-2. They are fairly even from a talent perspective, but the Cavs have been together for longer. Both squads will be very similar this season, so it's reasonable to assume they are in the same general class when it comes to talent.

The Cavaliers have some work to do to finish their roster. They could use a wing and will likely bring in a few more veterans before training camp starts. Okoro is still a restricted free agent. Their quality could change between now and the start of the season.

But as it stands, the Cavaliers look like they will be roughly the same team and reliant on Atkinson to find some stability. They extended the contracts of Mitchell, Allen, and Mobley this summer. Their direction is obvious. Yet it will take some improvement this season for their core to be established.

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