This offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers parted ways with former top-five pick Isaac Okoro in a trade for floor general Lonzo Ball. Acquiring Ball was truly a gamble for the franchise because even though he’s a gifted player, he’s also been ravaged by injuries for much of his time in the NBA.
While Ball has yet to so much as play a single game in a Cavaliers uniform, it appears he’s already made a positive impression on his new team. Per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Ball is turning heads with how he’s fared during training camp.
“From what I continue to hear, Lonzo Ball is somebody who continues to turn heads,” he said. “He continues to show how he can be an effective fit for this team. Obviously, there are questions about how much is he gonna play in the regular season? Is he going to play back-to-backs? Can he make it through a regular season fully healthy?
“But he’s showing glimpses of why, No. 1, he’s a better, more impactful player than Isaac Okoro. And No. 2, why he can help with a lot of these subtle changes that the Cavs are looking to implement at both ends of the floor, including more switching on defense, and then on offense, obviously playing with more pace and getting the ball up the floor even faster than what they did last year.”
Ball heads into his maiden season as a Cavalier having appeared in just 35 contests combined since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, with all 35 of those appearances coming last season. He’s played in 60-plus games in a season just once in his career, and that was back when he suited up for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019-20 season.
Cavaliers fans are hoping he can hit that 60-game benchmark again in the coming season, and if he can stay relatively healthy, he could prove to be an especially important player to kick off the campaign. After all, Cleveland’s starting point guard Darius Garland is set to miss some time to begin the 82-game slate after he underwent toe surgery this offseason.
While it’s unclear if Ball will start during Garland’s absence, it’s safe to say that he may get extended run. His playmaking should help Cleveland survive while Garland is out, as the newcomer has averaged 5.8 assists per game during his career.
The Cavaliers are likely the best team that Ball has played for in the NBA, as he has never played for a squad that’s won so much as a single playoff series. Cleveland is fresh off winning 64 games during the 2024-25 regular season, and the team reached the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs after it swept the Miami Heat in the first round.
Ball has made it clear that he’s looking to win a championship with the Cavaliers, and here’s to hoping he will do just that in 2026 while being a key contributor along the way.