The Cavs Past and Future

The Cleveland Cavaliers. Six time Central Division champions, four time Eastern Conference champions, and one time NBA champions. Lebron James was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003  and spent 7 years in Cleveland until he signed with the Heat in 2010. People all over Cleveland called him “the most hated player,” but in the 2010-2011 season, without LeBron James, the Cavaliers finished 19-63, while in the 2009 – 2010 season the Cavaliers had a 61 – 21 season with James. The Cavaliers got the first pick in 2011 and drafted their future point guard for the next 6 years, Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving was an amazing point guard at Duke for a year, and he was the highlight at Duke, and is  now the highlight in Cleveland. During the 2011-2012 season, the Cavs improved by only 2 wins, and finished 13th in the Eastern Conference from a 15th place finish in 2010-2011. Many of the Cavs fans were disappointed the team only earned two more wins with their new and improved point guard. Everyone thought that he would replace LeBron James, but he was nowhere near.

But in 2014, LeBron came off his fourth year in Miami and became a free agent. The Cavaliers also had the first round pick, and they picked the freshman from Kansas University, Andrew Wiggins. Everyone became excited because there was a chance to get LeBron back, and the big rookie Wiggins. But, the Cavs made a very serious trade that could become very good to their team, or bad. hey traded Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for Kevin Love, one of the most talked about power players in the NBA. With this trade it was time for the Cavs to get LeBron.

The Cavs gave LeBron a max contract, and so does Miami, but is LeBron’s series with the Heat over? For the 2014-2015 season, LeBron came back to the Cavs for a max contract, and led the Cavs to their first NBA Finals win the next year (2015-2016 season). But the team that the Cavs struggle against the most is the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had 3 All-Stars in 2015-2016, and the following year  signed another.

The Warriors signed a former MVP in the 2013-2014 season, Kevin Durant–former NBA leading scorer, and just a dominant player in general. This team became a bigger threat to the Cavs. In the 2016-2017 season, the Cavs played the Warriors in the finals, and the Warriors won their fifth total championship. The series was a 4-2 finals win for the Warriors.

For the 2017 – 2018 season,  the Cavs traded their 5 time All-Star, Kyrie Irving, to the Celtics for the Celtics All-Star guard, Isaiah Thomas. The Cavs have had a difficult start with Isaiah, while the Celtics are currently second in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs started out with a win over the Celtics for their first game, but have since been on a losing streak. Then all of the sudden, they went off for a 13 game winning streak.

The NBA season is nearing the halfway point and the Cavs aren’t as good as people wanted them to be, and the staff know it. Isaiah Thomas hasn’t been performing the way he was in Boston, so the Cavs traded him. The Cavs traded Isaiah Thomas to the Lakers for Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. Many people were outraged by the Cavs, saying “Worst trade in a long time.”

Since The trade has happened the Cavs are 1-3, the second worst record in the last 4 games. The new players they have are very young and have a lot of potential. With Larry Nance Jr. being a young forward with a strong mentorship, from Lebron being a forward himself. Jordan Clarkson, a true young point guard who can run the court, pass, and score. Since this trade has happened, it has put the Cavs down a lot, but in later years they will become better. Depending on the free agents, and the future signings, who can tell where the Cavs will go — but if the Cavs keep the same team for future years, they will once again be a top team.