2011-2012 Finish: 51-15

Season Highlight

Cleveland ran through the NLL regular season with the best record in the league. They also ran through the NLL playoffs by winning 4 series while losing only 3 games during the entire playoffs, en route to the NLL championship. In the previous 2 years, making the playoffs wasn’t the problem for the Cavs, it was winning in the playoffs. Before this season, they had been ousted in the 1st round 2 years straight. The problem: Depth. However, GM Alejandro refused to believe that a Lebron James led team couldn’t win it all, so he got a sick starting 5, and then found role players to fill out roster cheaply. Cleveland still sorely lacked depth, but when it was crunch time, Lebron shouldered the load to hoist the NLL trophy.

Season Lowlight

In a season where the Cavs ended with the best record in the league, then buzzed through the playoffs only losing 3 games total, there isn’t much to complain about. A 3 game losing streak from 19-21 Feb was one of the low points for the Cavs. This was their biggest losing streak OF THE ENTIRE SEASON! Couple that with losing a game to a team that ended up winning on 21 games all year in Detroit and you found 1A for the lowlight. 1B was losing to Washington 93-101 later in the season. The Wiz only won 17 games all year. At some point, there was speculation they were throwing the season to get a better draft pick. However, they still managed to muster a win at home against the best in the league.

Best Trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Chris Kaman and Nolan Smith to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send Anthony Tolliver and Serge Ibaka to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers send a 2nd-Rounder (Cle) to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send a 1st-Rounder (OKC) to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ibaka turned out to be the defensive presence that fuelled the Cavs championship run. Rumors were swirling that OKC GM was given a “happy ending” to coax the trade out of him. Magritte swears that Nolan Smith is a close family friend and was okay with giving more to work the deal. Whatever it was, Cavs got a steal and a 1st round pick to boot, that turned out to be Terrence Ross. I can’t even remember the name of the 2nd rounder OKC drafted with Cavs pick. I hear he’s already been kicked out of the D-League.

Worst Trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Danny Green to the Dallas Mavericks. The Cleveland Cavaliers send Arron Afflalo to the Detroit Pistons. The Dallas Mavericks send Tony Parker to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Detroit Pistons send Tony Allen, Mike Conley and Tyler Hansbrough to the Dallas Mavericks. The Cleveland Cavaliers send a 1st-Rounder (Cle) to the Detroit Pistons. The Dallas Mavericks send a 1st-Rounder (Dal) to the Detroit Pistons. The Detroit Pistons send a 2nd-Rounder (Cle) and 2nd-Rounder (LAL) to the Dallas Mavericks. Hold up, this was the worst trade? Well, the Cavs made 2 trades all season, so if 1 was the best, guess what the other one was. Tony Parker was a major contributor in the championship run, but was he worth moving Afflalo, Green and a 1st rounder for? That was debatable, but in retrospect, without this trade, we wonder if they would be hoisting the trophy.

Other Notable Trades

The Cavs made no other notable trades.

Best FA Signing

Caron Butler- SF. We expected him to be a decent player coming off injury out of free agency, but no one expected that he would be THAT good. He was the 3rd leading scorer on the Cavs with 16.3 per game and shot a team high 42% from trey (minimum 10 attempts).

Worst FA Signing

DeMarre Carroll- F. Despite being given the opportunity to play(9.1 minutes per game), Carroll couldn’t average over 1.6 points per and had no other statistical category that he had over 1.5 per. His +/- was the second lowest on the team, at -1.1.

Star

Lebron James- G/F- 26 points per game, 57% from the field, 7.0 rebounds per, 4.9 assists per, 1.3 steals and .8 blocks per game had Lebron in the running for MVP. He was an Eastern Conference ALL-Star and was 3rd in the player of the game watch. His versatility directly correlated with Cleveland winning the championship, as he played every position but C.

Surprise

Caron Butler. See Best FA signing!

Goat

The bench. With the exception of T-Mac, Cleveland’s bench was horrible. All 5 starters averaged 35 minutes or more and they needed to. After T-Mac’s 7.8 points per game, there was no player with 5 points per or more.

Draft Report Card

Cleveland had only 1 pick this past draft, the 11th overall pick. They drafted Terrence Ross, a 6’7 SG/SF from Washington. He’s a shooting guard that is very athletic and has great shooting range. He’s not afraid to shoot the ball, hence the 5.5 attempts from 3 per game in college, and shot 37% from three for the season. For a team looking for sparks off the bench, Ross looks to be the answer. His versatility (ability to play the SG or SF) should help Cleveland continue to focus on beating teams with mismatches their opponents can’t overcome.br>
Looking to the Future

The entire starting 5 returns for the NLL Champs, along with 2 of their better bench players: Kevin Seraphin and Luc Mbah A Moute. They also drafted for need by picking up Terrence Ross, an athletic SF. Unfortunately, they are only $6 Million below the luxury cap, so we expect to see them picking up affordable free agents to round out their roster. They have 9 active players, so picking up 3-4 role players shouldn’t be a problem for them. Their focus in FA should be C and SG.
Upcoming Free Agents

Jamario Moon, Tracy McGrady, Marquis Daniels, DeMarre Carroll, Anthony Tolliver, Keith Benson, Donald Sloan.- Of the 7 unsigned players, only 2 seem to be players that were consistent contributors to the Cavs success this past year, Moon and McGrady. McGrady was the best scorer off the bench and filled in nicely when the Cavs dealt with injuries. Moon seems to bring NLL championships with him wherever he goes, even though he’s not really that big of a contributor.