The Cleveland Cavs 2008-2009 Season: Another One Bites the Dust

When Mike Brown made the NBA Finals in 2007, his team exceeded expectations.  When his team played the San Antonio Spurs, he joined the great Cleveland coaches of yore.  Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Hargrove, Lenny Wilkins, and Eric Wedge have all taken Cleveland teams close to a title and all of them have...

Do you remember the look on Eric Wedge's face when Joel Skinner held Kenny Lofton at third base late in Game Seven of the 2007 ALCS?

If you don't then you probably root for a sports team that knows what it feels like to win the last game of the season.  If you do remember what I am talking about then the Cleveland Cavs' season ending in Orlando this season hurts, but is not surprising.

When Rashard Lewis hit that shot in Game One and Cleveland had two shots that missed at the end, you had to feel what I was feeling if you are a northern Ohio sports fan.

My only thought was how I had seen this before.  I was shocked in Game Two because I hadn't seen very many of those.  I have seen far too many Game Four's, not enough Game Five's, and Game Six is a rarity.  If the Cleveland teams always got blown out then the heartache wouldn't be so bad.

No, what the Cleveland teams do at crunch time is compete hard and fall short.

Achingly short.

The 2008-2009 season was a tremendous success.  The Cavs won their first Central Division Title and finished first in the Eastern Conference for the first time.  Mike Brown was Coach of the Year, LeBron James was the MVP, and the Cavs, after a lot of injuries, had two all-stars.

They won their first eight playoff games by double digits.  They had two big leads in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals and even though they gave both leads away, they still went to Orlando tied a game apiece.

Game Four was an epic overtime thriller that the Magic won to take control of the series.  Delonte West can be added to the list of Cleveland players, like the 1986 Browns defense, Ernest Byner, Jose Mesa, and Manny Ramirez, who just couldn't make the plays to put us over the top.  West missed an open three at the end of Game One and was the last player to touch the ball that went out of bounds at the end of Game Four. 

When Orlando passed the ball in, Lewis joined a list of Cleveland killers, like John Elway, Michael Jordan, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Ramirez, as he nailed another clutch three.

Remember how he won Game One with a clutch three?

The future is now for Cleveland.  LeBron James might test the free agent market after the 2009-2010 season.  Beyond that, however, the team has never been closer to a championship.  They built their team to compete with Boston in the summer of 2008 and now they have to build their team to compete with Orlando in the summer of 2009.  There might not be time to build their team for the Lakers, but we will cross that bridge when, and if, we get to it.

The Cavs need to part ways with free agents Wally Szczerbiak, Lorenzen Wright, and allow Zydrunas Ilgauskas to opt out.  That will free up three roster spots to bring in some new players.  I like the idea of signing Grant Hill to replace Szczerbiak, as it is an upgrade. 

The other free agents the Cavs need to look at are Hedo Turkoglu and Lamar Odom.  Either one of those players will fill the role of point forward that the Cavs lacked this postseason, and both would make the teams they leave weaker.

There is talk of packaging a deal to the Suns for Shaquille O'Neal, an upgrade over Ilgauskas.  The Cavs do have too many short guards so I look for Daniel Gibson to be moved, hopefully in a package deal to Phoenix that would include Ben Wallace.  Re-signing Andersen Varejao is important.  Joe Smith is serviceable if no other big men in the free agent market excites you.

The Cavs can make a real splash in the draft with their first pick.  Chase Budinger out of Arizona might be around late in the first round and his versatile game would fit in nicely with what the Cavs like to do.

The franchise itself needs to make these big signings to keep them competitive if LeBron does decide to leave after the 2010 season.  It would be hard to leave if they were to pick up more talent to put around him. 

It might also cause big free agents to not go to Cleveland if they think LeBron might leave.  Danny Ferry has a big summer in front of him.

Cleveland fans hope Ferry wins the GM of the Year Award next season and that LeBron wins the Finals MVP.  

It would also be nice to see LeBron sign a long term deal with the Cavs as well.