Reality Check: King James Will Hold Court Elsewhere in 2010

The city of Cleveland has taken one too many haymakers to the face in its miserable sports history.

There was "The Drive" in football, the 1997 World Series and 2007 American League Championship Series in baseball, and the infamous Michael Jordan shot in the face of Craig Ehlo in basketball.

If those highlights aren't depressing enough, there's always Major League I and II. What other sports franchise has been defaced—not once, but twice—on the big screen? Only the Cleveland Indians.

But as bruising as those low-lights were, they will feel like weak jabs to the stomach compared to the knockout blow the city's biggest star will deliver next summer. 

LeBron James is going to leave Cleveland. Maybe the minute the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on the fateful night the highly-anticipated 2010 free agency period gets underway.

He'll probably wait and tell Cavaliers fans that he's just testing the waters and that everything will be okay. But does anyone out there actually think LeBron needs to test the waters?

What NBA general manager doesn't want LBJ on his team? Not even Isiah Thomas could screw that one up. 

Come July, returning to Cleveland will no longer be an option for The King. 

James has said from the beginning that he wouldn't leave Cleveland for the sake of playing in a bigger market, and that he would return if the Cavs roster gave him the best chance to win.

With that being said, how in the world could anyone seriously expect him to return?

Since drafting James in June 2003, the Cavs have yet to make a big splash via trade or in free agency (unless there are cynics out there that believe trading for Shaq changes the Eastern Conference landscape in any way).

Here's a look at who the front office—namely general manager Danny Ferry, who took over his post in June 2005—has brought in each year following James' rookie season, after it was apparent the franchise would build around him.

2004: Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Eric Snow, Drew Gooden (lost Carlos Boozer and Jason Kapono).

2005: Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Ronald "Flip" Murray.

2006: David Wesley, Scott Pollard.

2007: Devin Brown, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Delonte West.

2008: Mo Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Tarence Kinsey.

2009: Shaquille O'Neal, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker, Leon Powe.

A few of the names look nice, but be sure to note the year they were acquired.

Szczerbiak and Wallace would've been great pickups in 2005 when they were playing for Minnesota and Detroit, respectively, but didn't arrive until 2007, when no one else wanted them.

Same with Wesley, Jones, Marshall, Murray, and Snow, not that any of them were ever great to begin with.

Williams is, bar none, the best player the Cavs have acquired in the LeBron Era. He's also the only player to make the Eastern Conference All-Star team after being acquired by Cleveland during The King's reign. 

Six offseasons and five trade deadlines have passed and Ferry and Co. have only netted one player with All-Star talent? That's very poor. And don't try and tell me that Shaq is an All-Star talent at this stage of his career.

Oh, he'll be selected to this year's East team barring injury, but that will be based on popularity and career achievements, not because his talent warrants the selection.

For those that believe the Cavs' 2009 acquisitions will put them over the hump, look at their production in Tuesday night's season opener, a 95-89 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Excluding Powe, who didn't make the active roster, O'Neal, Parker, and Moon combined for 22 points on 9-for-23 shooting (39 percent), 15 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and five turnovers. 

A little perspective: James himself scored 38 points, on 12-for-22 shooting, while adding eight assists and four blocks, which means the only category that the Big Three outdid lonely LeBron in was rebounds. What a night.

And I don't care that it was "just the first game of the season." If ever an opening game in the NBA could be considered a statement game, that one was for the Cavs. 

It was their first game since LeBron walked off the court without shaking hands with Magic players following the season-ending loss to Orlando in Game Six of the conference finals. It was at home versus the Celtics, a team that most believe will beat Cleveland to return to the NBA Finals in June.

If they can't beat Boston at home in October, what makes you think they will in May or June?

If O'Neal, now 37 and the supposed headliner of this new group, could only muster 10 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener when his legs are fresh, how "dominant" do you think he'll be six months and 81 games from now when the playoffs begin?

Because of LeBron's greatness, Shaq and the rest of the boys will be just enough until the conference finals. Then- like last year- Orlando, Boston, or Washington (yes, the Wizards), will expose the Cavs and their lack of depth, leaving Cleveland in the dust.

When the dust settles, LeBron will be gone.

Poor Cleveland.