The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering the fourth season of the core four era, the roster has blown past both the first and second apron restrictions, and the Eastern Conference is wide open for an NBA Finals run.

If the Wine and Gold don’t at least make the Conference Finals next year, there could be a new returning cast of players a year from now.

A lot is riding on this season for the Cavaliers, and every NBA fan is going to have the opportunity to watch it play out.

The NBA released the complete schedule for the 2025-26 season late last week. Cleveland has plenty of key dates and games to tune in to, but one of the biggest standouts is the number of primetime games the Cavaliers will be playing throughout the league year.

Cleveland is currently slated for 24 nationally televised games, which is the ninth-most out of any team.

The Cavaliers are scheduled to play seven games on ESPN, five games on NBC/Peakcock, five games exclusively on Peacock, four games on Amazon Prime, and three games on ABC.

This number of games in the spotlight may seem a little low for the team that was on top of the Eastern Confrence last season, but Cleveland is still just going to have trouble competing with teams in big markets with big stars such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and New York Knicks who will be on national television 34 times.

Still, this many primetime games for the Cavs is an increase from what they’ve seen in the past few seasons. Last year, the Wine and Gold were only scheduled to be in the league spotlight 16 times. The year before that, it was 17 (excluding playoff games). 

Clearly, the attention on Cleveland is growing, deservedly so. 

It’s not just that the Cavaliers have seen an increase in primetime games; it’s the type of big games the Cavaliers will be playing.

For the first time in almost a decade, Cleveland is back on the slate of Christmas Day games, and the Cavaliers will be part of the first NBA game exclusively broadcast on Peacock.

The Cavaliers will be in the spotlight next year, more often than in years past. 

If Cleveland is playing well, they could get the love they deserve to be considered a true Finals contender. If the Cavaliers begin to struggle, the whole NBA world is going to know. 

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