NBA – What Happens To The Cleveland Cavaliers Now?

Dan Gilbert is one pissed-off owner, and you can’t exactly blame him.

Maybe it was ridiculous for Cleveland to believe that LeBron James was going to remain a Cavalier, but for all intents and purposes, the guy who calls himself “The King” pretty much strung a quarter of the NBA, and his own home state fans, on a wild goose chase.

Given the justified outrage in Cleveland, a sign-and-trade to give James more money seems implausible.

So now what happens to the Cleveland Cavaliers?

For the fans, Thursday night was a gut wrenching moment.

They had hung on to every moment of the LeBron Teaser Tour and hoped that one of their own would not betray them.

Suddenly, and egotistically, the man who had been their leader for seven years was gone and used a nationally televised ego-fest to slap his former fans in the face.

I wrote after the Cavs were bounced in the second round of the playoffs that if LeBron leaves Cleveland, the fans should actually blame the team.

But now they’re stuck with the likes of Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison as the cornerstones of their team.

Williams was supposed to be LeBron’s running mate, but never showed the type of consistency that made him a scoring dynamo in Milwaukee.

He averaged 15.8 points per game last season and 5.3 assists, but it’s impossible to expect a guy who has never averaged more than 17.8 points per game to suddenly balloon in to the best scoring point guard in the league.

That leaves a lot of scoring up front with Anderson Varejao, Jamison and J.J. Hickson forming the backbone of the offense.

On paper, it’s actually not that bad of a lineup. Aside from Jamison, these are all young guys who now have a chance to emerge in the wake of LeBron’s departure.

What made the Cavaliers such dogs in the playoffs is the hero-worship the rest of the roster had.

They just expected LeBron to come up huge when it mattered, and nobody took responsibility for wins. They didn’t have a moment like the Lakers did when Ron Artest had a put back to beat Phoenix.

There was no Rondo-type on the team willing to seize control of the game early on.

Sadly, it was just one hero and a roster full of witnesses.

With just over $49 million over the cap, the Cavaliers still have some room to pick up a slasher-scorer type, but even that seems a stretch.

If players like Bosh were unwilling to come to the city of Cleveland when LeBron was here, what chance will they have of getting worthwhile players now?

It’s hard to imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers being competitive in the immediate future.

They were the best team in the East at 61-21 SU last season, but with Boozer arriving in Chicago, the Miami Heat scoring three of the best players of the generation, Boston, Atlanta, Orlando and Milwaukee all coming back, there isn’t much room for the Cavs.

Toronto and Indiana Pacers will be fighting with Charlotte and Cleveland for that final playoff spot, and we still don’t know what to make of New York or Washington.

LeBron James has left the Cleveland Cavaliers behind to move on to bigger and better things.

The Cavaliers must try and do the same, but the rebuilding process is a logistical nightmare.

Rebuilding the shattered hearts of the collective fan base is a whole other story.