The 2020âÂÂ21 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 51st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They did not make it to the playoffs for the third season in a row.
Before the start of the 2020 NBA draft period, the Cavaliers' selection was originally held as the #3 selection due to them finishing their previous season with the third worst record in the NBA (only ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors) before the NBA suspended their season on March 12 and eventually cancelled Cleveland's season on June 5. Like Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland held the best odds to jump up to the #1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft lottery, though the Cavaliers could have fallen as low as the #6 pick. However, unlike Minnesota and Golden State, Cleveland did not stay in the top 3; their first-round pick instead dropped down to the fifth selection of the draft. The Cavaliers didn't have a second round selection.
On January 13, 2021, the Cavaliers were part of a blockbuster four team trade. As part of the deal which was headlined by James Harden going to the Brooklyn Nets, the Cavs received center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince from Brooklyn, while sending guard Dante Exum and a 2022 first round draft pick to the Houston Rockets.
On January 22, 2021, the Cavaliers traded disgruntled small forward Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets for a highly protected future second-round pick.
Notes
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | December 12 | Indiana | | Cedi Osman (23) | Maker, Nance Jr. (10) | Dante Exum (5) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 1âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 | December 14 | Indiana | | Dante Exum (23) | Andre Drummond (11) | Dante Exum (5) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 2âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | December 16 | @ New York | | Andre Drummond (18) | Andre Drummond (14) | Drummond, Garland (5) | Madison Square Garden<br />0 | 2âÂÂ1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | December 18 | @ New York | | Cedi Osman (19) | Charles Matthews (7) | Mooney, Sexton (4) | Madison Square Garden<br />0 | 2âÂÂ2
|- style="background:#cfc" | 1 | December 23 | Charlotte | | Collin Sexton (27) | Andre Drummond (14) | Larry Nance Jr. (8) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />300 | 1âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#cfc" | 2 | December 26 | @ Detroit | | Collin Sexton (32) | Andre Drummond (16) | Darius Garland (12) | Little Caesars Arena<br />0 | 2âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#cfc" | 3 | December 27 | Philadelphia | | Andre Drummond (24) | Andre Drummond (14) | Darius Garland (7) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 3âÂÂ0 |- style="background:#fcc" | 4 | December 29 | New York | | Collin Sexton (20) | Andre Drummond (17) | Darius Garland (6) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 3âÂÂ1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 5 | December 31 | @ Indiana | | Collin Sexton (28) | Drummond, McGee (13) | Larry Nance Jr. (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse<br />0 | 3âÂÂ2
|- style="background:#cfc" | 6 | January 2 | @ Atlanta | | Collin Sexton (27) | Drummond, Nance Jr. (11) | Larry Nance Jr. (6) | State Farm Arena<br />0 | 4âÂÂ2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 7 | January 4 | @ Orlando | | Collin Sexton (24) | Andre Drummond (13) | Cedi Osman (7) | Amway Center<br />0 | 4âÂÂ3 |- style="background:#fcc" | 8 | January 6 | @ Orlando | | Collin Sexton (21) | Andre Drummond (15) | Cedi Osman (7) | Amway Center<br />0 | 4âÂÂ4 |- style="background:#cfc" | 9 | January 7 | @ Memphis | | Andre Drummond (22) | Andre Drummond (15) | Cedi Osman (7) | FedExForum<br />0 | 5âÂÂ4 |- style="background:#fcc" | 10 | January 9 | @ Milwaukee | | Andre Drummond (26) | Andre Drummond (24) | Damyean Dotson (8) | Fiserv Forum<br />0 | 5âÂÂ5 |- style="background:#fcc" | 11 | January 11 | Memphis | | Andre Drummond (19) | Andre Drummond (14) | Damyean Dotson (6) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 5âÂÂ6 |- style="background:#fcc" | 12 | January 12 | Utah | | Cedi Osman (17) | JaVale McGee (9) | Cedi Osman (6) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 5âÂÂ7 |- style="background:#cfc" | 13 | January 15 | New York | | Andre Drummond (33) | Andre Drummond (23) | Nance Jr., Osman (5) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 6âÂÂ7 |- style="background:lightgrey" | | January 17 | @ Washington | colspan=6| Postponed (COVID-19) (Makeup date: April 25) |- style="background:lightgrey" | | January 18 | @ Washington | colspan=6| Postponed (COVID-19) (Makeup date: May 14) |- style="background:#cfc" | 14 | January 20 | Brooklyn | | Collin Sexton (42) | Jarrett Allen (11) | Cedi Osman (7) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 7âÂÂ7 |- style="background:#cfc" | 15 | January 22 | Brooklyn | | Collin Sexton (25) | Andre Drummond (16) | Collin Sexton (9) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 8âÂÂ7 |- style="background:#fcc" | 16 | January 24 | @ Boston | | Collin Sexton (13) | Jarrett Allen (7) | Garland, Prince (5) | TD Garden<br />0 | 8âÂÂ8 |- style="background:#fcc" | 17 | January 25 | L.A. Lakers | | Andre Drummond (25) | Andre Drummond (17) | Collin Sexton (6) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />0 | 8âÂÂ9 |- style="background:#cfc" | 18 | January 27 | Detroit | | Collin Sexton (29) | Andre Drummond (16) | Isaac Okoro (6) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br />1,944 | 9âÂÂ9 |- style="background:#fcc" | 19 | January 29 | @ New York | | Darius Garland (24) | Andre Drummond (15) | Collin Sexton (5) | Madison Square Garden<br />0 | 9âÂÂ10 |- style="background:#fcc" | 20 | January 31 | @ Minnesota | | Andre Drummond (25) | Andre Drummond (22) | Darius Garland (5) | Target Center<br />0 | 9âÂÂ11
|- style="background:#cfc" | 21 | February 1 | Minnesota | | Collin Sexton (26) | Jarrett Allen (18) | Darius Garland (11) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ11 |- style="background:#fcc" | 22 | February 3 | L.A. Clippers | | Collin Sexton (27) | Jarrett Allen (9) | Allen, Sexton (5) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ12 |- style="background:#fcc" | 23 | February 5 | Milwaukee | | Collin Sexton (19) | Andre Drummond (9) | Drummond, Garland, Prince, Sexton (4) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ13 |- style="background:#fcc" | 24 | February 6 | Milwaukee | | Andre Drummond (28) | Andre Drummond (11) | Darius Garland (9) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ14 |- style="background:#fcc" | 25 | February 8 | @ Phoenix | | Collin Sexton (23) | Andre Drummond (14) | Darius Garland (7) | Phoenix Suns Arena<br /> | 10âÂÂ15 |- style="background:#fcc" | 26 | February 10 | @ Denver | | Jarrett Allen (18) | Jarrett Allen (10) | Collin Sexton (8) | Ball Arena<br /> | 10âÂÂ16 |- style="background:#fcc" | 27 | February 12 | @ Portland | | Collin Sexton (25) | Dylan Windler (10) | Collin Sexton (5) | Moda Center<br /> | 10âÂÂ17 |- style="background:#fcc" | 28 | February 14 | @ L.A. Clippers | | Collin Sexton (22) | Allen, McGee (10) | Darius Garland (6) | Staples Center<br /> | 10âÂÂ18 |- style="background:#fcc" | 29 | February 15 | @ Golden State | | Collin Sexton (23) | Jarrett Allen (14) | Collin Sexton (5) | Chase Center<br /> | 10âÂÂ19 |- style="background:lightgrey" | | February 17 | San Antonio | colspan=6| Postponed (COVID-19) (Makeup date: March 19) |- style="background:#fcc" | 30 | February 19 | Denver | | Collin Sexton (23) | Jarrett Allen (10) | Cedi Osman (7) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ20 |- style="background:#fcc" | 31 | February 21 | Oklahoma City | | Collin Sexton (27) | Jarrett Allen (17) | Darius Garland (8) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 10âÂÂ21 |- style="background:#cfc" | 32 | February 23 | Atlanta | | Collin Sexton (29) | Jarrett Allen (14) | Darius Garland (8) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 11âÂÂ21 |- style="background:#cfc" | 33 | February 24 | Houston | | Jarrett Allen (26) | Jarrett Allen (18) | Darius Garland (10) | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse<br /> | 12âÂÂ21 |- style="background:#cfc" | 34 | February 27 | @ Philadelphia | | Collin Sexton (28) | Dean Wade (12) | Darius Garland (9) | Wells Fargo Center<br /> | 13âÂÂ21
|- style="background:#cfc" | 35 | March 1 | @ Houston | | Collin Sexton (39) | Jarrett Allen (15) | Collin Sexton (8) | Toyota Center<br /> | 14âÂÂ21