Cleveland Cavaliers 2010-2011 preview
When LeBron James finally comes back to town you can expect one of the most hate filled receptions for a player ever to be seen in the NBA.
He went from being the most beloved athlete in Cleveland – and possibly Cleveland sports history – to becoming one of the most hated players, not only in Ohio but in America. His decision on ‘The Decision’ to announce he’s leaving Cleveland and sign with Miami couldn’t have caused more uproar.
The Cavs are a franchise scorned, one that may not be able to recover from such a break-up; even owner Dan Gilbert had a meltdown – Google “Dan Gilbert Lebron letter”.
The Cavs do have some talent in Anderson Varejao and JJ Hickson but that’s about it. Mo Williams is an average point guard at best and Antwan Jamison is good enough to carry the team in LeBron’s absence.
It’s going to be a big down year in Cleveland – at least the Browns aren’t that bad this year.
Off-season moves
Obviously Lebron leaving town was the biggest move for the Cavaliers this off-season. At least they managed include him in a sign-and-trade to get some value back. That value comes in the form of two first round picks from Miami, a second round pick from New Orleans, a future second round pick from Oklahoma City.
The trade also included the right to exchange first round picks in 2012, but the only way that will be of benefit to the Cavs is if they finish above the Heat – enter joke here.
Leaving with James were Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaquille O'Neal.
The other big moves they made were firing head coach Mike Brown and general manager Danny Ferry.
Mike Brown proved he wasn’t capable of coaching a team in the play-offs – LeBron even quit on the team because of Brown’s tactics – and Ferry was unable to build a team around LeBron good enough to win the Finals.
In come Chris Grant and Byron Scott, a new GM new a head coach and a new start for the franchise. Grant was Ferry’s No.2 and will be familiar with the team but how much power he will have is still up for debate.
Scott will add toughness to a team that projects to win under 30 games. If he manages to win any more than that the season will have to be classed as a success.
Player wise the biggest move, apart from LeBron, came when the Cavs traded Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair to Minnesota for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins and a second-round pick. Sessions is a pretty decent point guard who was miss-used by the Timberwolves. He can run an offence well and gives the Cavs a good back-up. Expect Mo Williams to be traded at some point during the season if he’s not playing well.
Other moves : signed Christian Eyenga, signed Joey Graham, signed Jawad Williams, signed Samardo Samuels.
Prediction
This is no longer a 60 win team and won’t be for quite a while. In fact this isn’t even a play-off team. Realistically the Cavaliers are looking at a sub 30-win season, unfortunately.
Tags: