Moving On: The Cleveland Cavaliers After LeBron James

I thought that the Cavalier's general manager and coach chose the correct strategy.   Once LeBron made his decision to head to South Florida, Chris Grant, the new general manager and Byron Scott, the new coach simply moved on – they had no desire to talk about LeBron James, but rather they wanted to focus their attention on rebuilding the Cavaliers.

Lebron burned a lot of good will in a few minutes in his disastrous ESPN appearance.  But that is his problem.   The Cavaliers have plenty of problems of their own.  But I do not think that LeBron's departure is that bad for the Cavs.  On one hand, the Cavs lost one of the best players in basketball. On the other hand, I do not think that the Cavs would have won it all with the strategy employed – building a team around Lebron. 

Indeed, if we look at things objectively, the Cavs have not been improving over time, at least not when it matters -- in the playoffs.  Truthfully, the Cavaliers peaked in 2007 with the great upset victory over the Pistons that gave the Cavs their only Eastern Conference Championship.  In 2006, the Cavaliers also performed well in the playoffs, besting Washington in the first round match-up between equals.   The Cavs then nearly stunned the heavily Pistons in the second round, winning three games in a row to lead the series 3-2, before succumbing in seven games.  The 2008 playoffs were somewhat similar to 2006.  The Cavaliers easily won in the first round and nearly upset the heavily favored Celtics in a classic series that went down to the wire in game seven.

Compared with those achievements, and near achievements, 2009 and 2010 were disappointing.  Yes, the Cavaliers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2009, but their sweeps in the first two rounds were against the unmotivated Pistons and the over-matched Atlanta Hawks.   The Cavs did not even make it to game seven against Orlando in the conference finals.  A home court advantage in the playoffs does not matter if you never get to play a game-seven.

But the performance in the playoffs in 2009 was better than the performance in the playoffs this year.  In 2009, the Cavaliers ran into a really hot-shooting Orlando team.  Rashard Lewis, in particular hit several clutch three point shots (while being tightly guarded) that destroyed the Cavs.  Against the Lakers, the Magic crashed back to earth – in that series, they could not even hit open three-point shots.

In 2010, the Cavaliers were not even competitive against the Celtics.  Following a great victory in game three to go up 2-1, the Cavs responded by falling apart and badly losing the following three games to Boston.  Again, the Cavaliers did not get to a game seven.  Against the Magic in 2009, at least the Cavaliers were competitive. In 2010 against the Celtics, the Cavs were soundly outclassed.

So, really, truthfully, the Cavaliers strategy was not producing better results over time.  2011 will bring a fresh start – a new GM, a new coach, and a new type of team.  Certainly the Cavaliers will not win 60 games in the regular season in 2011, and they may not make the playoffs.  Realistically, the Cavaliers cannot attract the top free agents. But that is not necessary. With a new strategy based on a total team concept and a strong bench – similar to the strategies employed by the Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs – maybe the Cavs can build a championship team.  Of course, that might take a long time, but it was probably not going to happen at all with the 'one superstar' model.