On Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons will play a Game 7 to decide which team advances to the Eastern Conference finals, the report says. The outcome will validate or invalidate each season on the historic ledger and could shape significant roster and contract decisions in Cleveland.
Both clubs entered the decisive game having played 13 postseason contests and each standing 7-6, per the report. The series has produced standout moments — Donovan Mitchell recorded a 39-point half and Cade Cunningham produced a 45-point performance in a road elimination game — but the first two rounds exposed both teams as high-variance squads with clear flaws.
The report says those flaws present different challenges. Detroit’s core is described as very young, with several key players under 25, while Cleveland faces a more complicated, urgent situation with Mitchell turning 30 this summer and James Harden turning 37. A Cavaliers loss would intensify questions about whether the midseason trade and other moves are yielding the intended results.
The fallout from a Cavs defeat could be considerable, the report says. Cleveland is the league’s only second-apron team and carries a league-high payroll of $226 million, which the report says rises to north of $280 million including the luxury tax. A loss Sunday would be the third straight season the Cavs failed to get out of the second round, and the team did not assemble this roster intending to reach the same postseason endpoint.
The report details the circumstances of the Harden trade: Cleveland acquired Harden in a swap that sent Darius Garland to the Clippers, a move the Cavs made with multiple seasons in mind and with the hope Harden would be healthier late in the season than Garland — Garland later acknowledged he had been “playing with nine toes,” the report says. The report adds that Los Angeles had not committed to Harden’s team option, Harden’s representation was given permission to seek another team, and that there is an understanding Cleveland plans to work out a new multiyear deal with Harden this summer, sources said.
Per the report, the Cavs had worked to establish a relationship between Harden and coach Kenny Atkinson before the trade closed, and team communications showed Harden addressing teammates after a recent win. The report notes Harden has been inconsistent in the postseason again, but that Cleveland appears positioned to try to retain him regardless of Sunday’s result.
