The Cavaliers have another summer of difficult decisions to make and Gilbert\u2019s tweet perhaps complicates that a bit more. This isn\u2019t nothing. It reminded me of the time Gilbert tweeted<\/a> during a Cavs rebuild, \u201cWhen the Cleveland Cavaliers arrive back to the top tier of the NBA we will be a DEFENSIVE 1st team.\u201d<\/p>\n Byron Scott was fired two months later.\u00a0We won\u2019t have to wait two months for action this time.<\/p>\n Gilbert didn\u2019t spend $280 million on this roster in payroll and taxes just to get swept in the conference finals by the New York Knicks and get embarrassed by their fans taking over his arena<\/a> for Game 4. I\u2019ve covered this team for more than 15 years, and I\u2019ve never seen anything like what we witnessed here Monday night, the sheer amount of Knicks fans who infiltrated the seats. Even though it\u2019s the same thing Gilbert did in the second round when he bused more than a thousand Cavs fans up to Detroit, I understand why he\u2019d be aggravated watching this team unravel over these four games. It was a pitiful ending after fighting so hard to get there.<\/p>\n The painful truth about how this season ended, where the Cavaliers now stand and what lies ahead is that there is no easy way out. Enough dynamite can make any roster decision possible, but a series of difficult choices has led them to this pressure point \u2014 where a major roster pivot will be incredibly difficult.<\/p>\n I would love to tell you the Cavs have options and flexibility this summer. I wanted to write that the Cavs\u2019 best path forward is to either trade Donovan Mitchell or acquire a better star to put above him. The reality is that neither of those paths seems plausible.<\/p>\n With the payroll at the current level \u2014 a second apron team \u2014 and a lack of control over many of their own draft picks for the foreseeable future, the Cavs are boxed in a bit<\/a>. In the macro of these playoffs, Mitchell certainly did not play like someone worthy of a $270 million extension, but that\u2019s exactly what the Cavs are going to put in front of him this summer. Most of the decisions this franchise has made over the last few years have been geared toward acquiescing to Mitchell\u2019s wishes. Firing J.B. Bickerstaff, hiring Kenny Atkinson<\/a> and acquiring James Harden were all moves that came with his blessing\/approval. They aren\u2019t about to turn from him now, particularly after finally breaking through to the conference finals, and Mitchell doesn\u2019t sound like someone looking to move anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI love it here,\u201d he said after the Cavs were eliminated Monday night. \u201cI don\u2019t know how else to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n It stands to reason he also loves money, and delaying another extension by one more season could mean an extra $70 million on his next contract. Who could blame him if he chooses not to\u00a0sign a new deal this July, even if it makes things a bit awkward next season with Mitchell entering his final year of team control?<\/p>\n After LeBron James left for Miami in 2010, Gilbert vowed to those around him that he would never let another player hold his organization hostage as James had during his final season in Cleveland. Would Gilbert view Mitchell entering the final year of his deal next season the same way?<\/p>\n Gilbert hasn\u2019t been the same reactionary, irascible owner since his health issues. This Dan Gilbert is much, much different from a decade ago. That\u2019s what made the tweet late Monday night so fascinating.<\/p>\n He has been a staunch supporter of Atkinson to this point, while Mitchell and Harden both gave Atkinson full-throated approvals after the sweep.<\/p>\n The reality is, Atkinson had an awful series against the Knicks. From his timeout debacle and the collapse in Game 1 to his silly insistence that \u201canalytically \u2026 we\u2019ve won two out of three,\u201d before Game 4, this was not Atkinson\u2019s finest hour. Back here on Earth, the Knicks outscored the Cavs by 77 points in the sweep.<\/p>\n \n The Cavs are still behind Kenny Atkinson. (Gregory Shamus \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Atkinson spent most of the last week bemoaning how tired the Cavs were in this series and complaining about the NBA\u2019s scheduling, which forced them to play every other day after doing so in the conference semifinals. In all, the Cavs played 14 high-intensity games in 27 days, spanning the end of the first round and culminating in Monday\u2019s sweep. Certainly, fatigue was a factor, but the Cavs did it to themselves by allowing series with the Raptors and Pistons to both go seven games. As the coach, that\u2019s on Atkinson. It\u2019s hard to feel sorry for any of them now.<\/p>\n Mitchell and Harden seem all but assured of being on this roster next season, whether Atkinson is coaching them or not. At 36, Harden has played the most minutes of anyone in the NBA in this postseason, a remarkable feat. The Full Harden Experience was on display over the last six weeks, both the good and the ugly. Committing any sort of big-dollar contract to him this summer comes with risk, but the Cavs have left themselves with few outs.<\/p>\n For years, Cavs president Koby Altman talked about this team\u2019s long runway. That is no longer the case. Mitchell\u2019s looming contract decision and Garland\u2019s inability to consistently play at a level worthy of his max contract forced them to make the trade with the Clippers. They had to get the plane off the ground, and Garland was a distressed asset. There wasn\u2019t much of a market for Harden, either, so both teams traded their problems. To his credit, Harden was a capable pilot. The Cavs probably don\u2019t get to this point without him. It\u2019s still fair to wonder if a core of Mitchell, Evan Mobley and an aging Harden is enough to win a championship within the next year or two? Can the guards commit to giving Mobley the space necessary to become the franchise\u2019s top option?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2278213745-scaled.jpg\")
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