What’s scary isn’t the 15-0 start or the depth of this talented roster. It’s not their relentless offense under new coach Kenny Atkinson or the evolution of Evan Mobley, who in his fourth season is finally becoming everything he was promised coming out of college.

No, the part that should have the rest of the league shaking as the Cleveland Cavaliers prepare for their highly anticipated NBA Cup matchup with the Boston Celtics is much simpler: If the Cavs’ competitive window was an NBA game, they have not even done. have still taken off their warm-up shirts.

This team is just getting started.

As top prospects adjust to the parity party that the new collective bargaining agreement has forced on the league, the Cavaliers have the advantage of arriving fashionably late.

Previous champions like the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks were built under the old system and are now trying to keep their competitive windows open while adhering to the rules of suspensions and heavier tax penalties. The Cavs continued to grow and mature over the past few seasons as the new CBA was negotiated and implemented.

Now, perhaps no team other than the Oklahoma City Thunder is as well equipped for what lies ahead as the Cavaliers.

The Cavs had the advantage of watching teams like the Phoenix Suns struggle against the limitations of the second platform and struggle to replenish their roster with talented role players, so Cleveland pivoted the other way.

Instead of breaking the core of a team that advanced to the conference semifinals last year, Cavs president Koby Altman doubled down with lucrative extensions for everyone. Over the summer, Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro and Jarrett Allen all signed deals totaling 14 years and $503 million to remain in Cleveland.

That kind of stability means the Cavs will have six of their top players — those four plus Darius Garland and Max Strus — under team control for at least the next three years, and in some cases even longer.

Equally important, the Cavs haven’t been a tax team since LeBron James left in 2018. They started this season with just a few million dollars in luxury tax and have plenty of time and options to get to the bottom line if they choose to delay the start. their tax clock for another year.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has never been shy about paying taxes. Cleveland had the league’s highest tax bill the year it won the championship, and it still ranks among the franchise leaders in total luxury tax payments.

The Cavs weren’t expected to become a tax team until next season, when Mobley’s max extension begins, but their historic start could force them to reconsider their position before the trade deadline.

They still have a limited number of available draft assets to trade after acquiring Mitchell, although they can offer trade rights on their 2030 pick, and their 2031 first-round pick is now in play if a potential trade partner is interested in scouting current eighth graders.

These are the kinds of conversations and decisions Gilbert and Altman welcome after an incredible start to the season saw them open their championship battle a year earlier than expected.

Nevertheless, if the dreaded second platform and rebuilt penalties for repeat offenders teach the league anything, it is to avoid the treacherous waters until And unless the roster has no glaring weaknesses.

The Cavs took advantage by learning from the teams that came before them and wisely signing as many players as possible to extensions before even having to worry about the tax.

“There were two or three teams last year that went over the second platform and had tough summers,” Altman said before the season. “If you don’t reach that pinnacle and you can’t get better, what does that mean? And you have this astronomical tax bill.

Boston already has one championship and is now trying to transition an era from when blatant spending wasn’t as punishing to this more punishing tax world. The Celtics are now well into the second apron, but won’t face their first real stress test until next season, when Jayson Tatum’s $300 million supermax kicks in alongside extensions for Derrick White and Sam Hauser. The Celtics could be staring at a payroll with tax penalties north of $450 million next season, which would shatter the Warriors’ previous record of $384 million. It’s no wonder, given those price tags, why the Celtics are for sale right now.

The steep tax penalties also pushed Marc Lasry out of the NBA and allowed billionaire Jimmy Haslam, who also owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, to buy half of the Bucks.

Gilbert is one of the NBA’s richest owners after taking Quicken Loans public in 2020. How high he’s willing to go with the load remains to be seen, but it’s an issue the Cavs won’t have to worry about anytime soon. They won’t even reach repeat offender status before the 2027-2028 season — and that’s if they stay in the tax this year. If they get out before February, they won’t have to worry about repeat offender status until 2028-2029. Mobley and Allen are then the only two players still under team control.

“There’s definitely a part of us that looks at it and says, keep your best players under contract as long as possible,” Altman said. “Before you get into this zone that almost the NBA doesn’t want you to be in: keep your most talented players under contract. Then it just becomes a discussion about how much Dan wants to spend on taxes. We have never been afraid of that. It’s more strategic: when do you do it, and when do you become a repeater? We are fortunate to have an owner who is not afraid of numbers. It’s about when we go in and how good we can be when we’re in.

The Cavs already have their answer to the second question. They are really, really good. And it’s only the first quarter.

(Top photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)