The Future Of The Cleveland Cavaliers: Reason For Hope?

Now that Cleveland's 2009-2010 basketball season is over, I can finally think a little more clearly.

My thoughts were dominated for this season by the hope of a championship and the fear that LeBron James would leave. By having the thought of LeBron's exit clouding my mind, I actually sided with the management of the Cavs.

I even gave Danny Ferry the Executive of the Year Award.

All I can say is that we make bad choices when we are not thinking clearly.

Carlos Boozer was a Cleveland Cav and the front office was shocked when he left for Utah Jazz. I wonder if Boozer wants that choice back now. Did he not buy into the LeBron James hype? Did he not want to be the second guy? He went to Utah, was the second guy to Deron Williams and is not any closer to a ring.

The management of the Cavs let down their superstar two years in a row. They didn't trade for Shaquille O'Neal in the 2008-2009 season, and the Cavs were handled by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.

When they did bring Shaq in, it was too late.

They didn't fire Mike Brown after he was thoroughly out-coached by Stan Van Gundy in the 2009 East Finals. Getting out-coached by Stan Van Gundy isn't a phrase that is used very often. The Cavs front office brought Mike Brown back this year in hopes that he learned from his mistakes. To much of the entire organizations and players suprise, Coach Brown allowed history to repeat itself by failing to make adjustments during the course of the game, and not being able to keep his best players on the floor together.

The front office is going to fix that mistake and let go of the Cavs coach. Mike Brown has had a ton of regular season success and is a former Coach of the Year Award winner. He had the pieces to make a run this post-season and could not find a rotation that would enhance the Cavs strengths.

The front office did not want to trade J.J. Hickson in the Amar'e Stoudemire deal. When the future is now, why were they holding onto a player that might have a nice future? Hickson was a starter until the Cavs brought in Antawn Jamison. After he went to the bench in the regular season, Hickson saw his minutes vanish in the playoffs. The Cavs held onto a player that did not make the post-season rotation, instead of dealing him for a guy that would have been logging huge minutes in the playoffs for them.

The biggest sin of the Cavs management was not being able to add a better supporting cast for LeBron James years. The Orlando Magic brought in Vince Carter. The Los Angeles Lakers brought in Pau Gasol. The Boston Celtics brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

The Cleveland Cavaliers brought in Mo Williams, who was just awful in the post-season. They brought in Shaquille O'Neal, who is years past his prime. There was a feeling of urgency to make a deal this year at the deadline, so Antawn Jamison was brought in and he was overwhelmed by the big stage.

So why is there a reason for hope for the Cleveland franchise?

For starters, there is hope that they can learn from their mistakes. They have time to get a coach into Cleveland that LeBron James respects. There are a few teams (Chicago, New Jersey, Miami and LA Clippers) that are going from this angle in the courting of LeBron and now Cleveland has to see that they are in that field.

This is a broken record but the roster needs changes. Cleveland's front office must get a legit number two guy. Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are coming off of the books and neither needs to be brought back.

Danny Ferry has this moment to work out a blockbuster sign and trade deal. Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitski are big men that could be moved to Cleveland for the contracts of Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams. Delonte West should also be moved out of Cleveland.

Anderson Varejao, Jamario Moon, J.J. Hickson, Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker are role players that are worth keeping. They are not exciting or imposing but they will look a lot better in a rotation that includes LeBron James and another elite player.

The Cavs need to upgrade their point guard position as well. LeBron James is a great point forward so the need for a stud point guard is not as glaring as it is with other teams. It would be nice to work a deal for Chris Paul but I would rather have a talented big man to help LeBron than a talented point guard.

If LeBron James does leave Cleveland then I will wish him the best. He gave it his best shot. The Cavs front office did a lot of things to help but not much helped.

It was really nice to see Cleveland on Christmas Day. It was really cool to have the best regular season record two years in a row. It was a joy to have an MVP on the roster.

The winds of change are charging through Cleveland. After seven years, the front office is cramming for one final test. Firing Mike Brown is a good move. Who they hire next is paramount to the future of the franchise. They have one last shot to bring in what LeBron really needs and that is an All Star caliber player.

They might have to do that to replace LeBron James if nothing else.

The reason I have hope is that they might be bringing in another All Star to play with LeBron James.