A headbanded cartoon rendering of Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen holds aloft the four fingers of his right hand as Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland complete a clockwise circle.
Perhaps one day this will be a mural in downtown Cleveland, a nod to the “Core Four” of Cavs who steered the franchise to an elusive NBA title sans LeBron James.
For now, it’s merely a Homage-brand T-shirt at Cavaliersteamshop.com, one with a potentially prescient product description:
“Whether you’re heading to a Cavs game or just lounging around, this tee is sure to be a staple in your wardrobe.”
Whether to retain the Core Four after a banner regular season ended in embarrassment isn’t for clothiers to say, of course. The person who guides such decisions seems ready to wear his loyalty, however, which isn’t altogether ugly for Cleveland fans.
Allen, Garland, Mitchell and Mobley each are under contract next season. Mobley, 23, is the youngest of the quartet, while Mitchell, 28, is its de facto elder statesman.
Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman points to that blend of youth and success as a leading argument against blowing things up. Cleveland won 64 times in the regular season, tops in the Eastern Conference and third most in club history. The year before, much of the same group produced 48 regular-season wins.
One frustratingly common thread? The duration of those teams’ postseasons. While the 2023–24 Cavs lost to eventual champion Boston in a five-game, second-round series, Cleveland was favored when it met the Indiana Pacers in the same spot this season.
Now on the brink of the NBA Finals, Indiana darted past the Cavaliers in five, scoring at least 120 points three times.
To Altman, that’s part of the progression.
“This is where we’re going to get better, and this is where we’re going to lean into,” he said. “But we have to go through these experiences as tough as they are, fail quick and get up, lick our wounds and move forward.”
That “lick our wounds” part may irk some Cleveland faithful. Health and consistency during the regular season helped the Cavs produce offensive and defensive efficiencies that ranked in the top eight for a roster that lost the fifth-fewest games due to injury.
Things caught up down the stretch and into the playoffs. While Mitchell played through a calf strain and sprained ankle, Garland missed four postseason games with a sprained big toe and Mobley was out for one with a sprained ankle.
Cleveland sputtered to the worst defensive efficiency among the eight conference semifinalists, while NBA Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson’s offense struggled to stay consistent.
Atkinson capably took the reins after the team dismissed J.B. Bickerstaff following last season, creating title aspirations in short order.
Still, Atkinson’s influence on intensity and playoff moxie will need to be sharp at this time a year from now. The price of the aforementioned Core Four T-shirt — or similar apparel — might plummet otherwise.
“I think there’s a championship window that we have here that’s wide open, and that’s one that we’re going to try to pursue next year and the year after and the year after and so forth,” Altman said.
“So we’re not done by any stretch. But I would say if there was a time that we were going to crumble, potentially would’ve been last year. Certainly not after what we’ve seen from this group this year is something where we’re going to break up a group that’s been together for three years and has accomplished and is ready to take that next step — as disappointing as this ending was.”
