Cleveland Cavaliers 2024 NBA Championship Odds
Gamblers can sometimes forget that the Cavs won 51 games last season with one of the youngest starting lineups in the NBA after their embarrassing playoff flameout vs. the Knicks. Cleveland made it a point to add more shooting this summer after finishing No. 19 in three-point makes and No. 24 in three-point attempts last season, and that seems like a wise move. Max Strus and Georges Niang signed for a combined $90 million, and Ty Jerome was added to a small deal. The Cavs will only go as far as Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley take them, but at least now they can play in more space with the added shooting talent.
2024 NBA Championship Betting Odds
Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Betting Lines
The 2022-23 Cleveland Cavaliers were 51-31 straight up, 42-36-4 against the spread, and 40-42 over/under the total. Also, Cleveland was 4th in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Cleveland was seven games behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference race. Cleveland had NBA metrics of 25th for scoring offense, 5th for field goal percentage, 12th for 3-point field goal percentage, and 25th for offensive rebounding. Defensively the Cavaliers ranked 1st for points allowed, 7th for field goal percentage against, 23rd for 3-point field goal percentage against, and 3rd for rebounds.
This offseason, Cleveland's goal was to come away with one viable wing to pair with their two star guards and bigs. They ultimately landed two. Neither Georges Niang nor Max Strus are especially strong defenders, but both will work wonders on an offense that took the seventh-fewest 3-pointers in the NBA last season. Besides, having Evan Mobley available to guard virtually any position makes it far easier to get away with questionable wing defense. Isaac Okoro is still a defensive specialist when needed. Strus and Niang likely would have provided enough spacing for the Cavs to beat the Knicks.
Season-by-Season Record (Last 5)
SEASON |
GAMES |
WINS |
LOSSES |
FINISH |
PLAYOFFS |
2022–23 |
82 |
51 |
31 |
2nd, Central |
Lost in First Round, 4–1 (Knicks) |
2021–22 |
82 |
44 |
38 |
3rd, Central |
Did not qualify |
2020–21 |
72 |
22 |
50 |
4th, Central |
Did not qualify |
2019–20 |
65 |
19 |
46 |
5th, Central |
Did not qualify |
2018–19 |
82 |
19 |
63 |
5th, Central |
Did not qualify |
Cleveland Cavaliers History
The Cleveland Cavaliers were born as an NBA expansion franchise in 1970-71 and struggled to keep the attention of local fans until the late 1980s, when they emerged as a quality team under coach Lenny Wilkens. The Cavs developed the reputation of being good but not quite great and somewhat snakebit from that point. The iconic image of Michael Jordan killing them off with the game-winning shot in a playoff series summed up what the Cavaliers were all about in those days.
However, the arrival of local phenom LeBron James in 2003 changed all that. James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007, and the team posted a franchise-best record of 66-16 during the 2008-09 season. They were a contender for five years, but the lack of a quality supporting class led to James leaving for Miami after the 2010 season. Cleveland went from 61-21 to 19-63 the following year, yet that bottoming out allowed the Cavaliers to draft Kyrie Irving and build a supporting cast for James to return to after four years in Miami.
James turned Cleveland into Believeland upon his return to the Cavaliers. The franchise had its most successful run in history with James and Irving leading the way, making it to the NBA Finals four straight times. Cleveland knocked off the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals to give the city its first major sports title in decades, leading to widespread joy in the streets.
Once again, James left Cleveland for another team following the 2017-18 season. Kyrie Irving moved on from the Cavaliers too at that point, leading to the franchise bottoming out once more. That put the Cavaliers back in the lottery, and they built the team through the NBA Draft once again by taking Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, and Evan Mobley over the last five years.
NBA Teams
Eastern Conference - Atlantic
Eastern Conference - Central
Eastern Conference - Southeast
Western Conference - Northwest
Western Conference - Pacific
Western Conference - Southwest
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