The date which could be known as the final day of the Cavaliers as an elite.

The day that hell broke loose in every media outlet, and the day that Twitter had sprung at least 3 types of trending topics which included either LeBron, Cavs, Cavs suck, and plenty of others surrounding the LeBron/2010 hoopla.

But since then, basketball has been played. The Magic were vanquished, as were the Suns, and the Finals was set. Set in great fashion it was, with the two most historic franchises in NBA history; the Lakers and Celtics.

But this is not about that, this is about how the Cleveland Cavaliers are falling apart. In a way, it much resembles the Roman Empire.

Led by a strong leader, Caesar, which in Cleveland’s case is LeBron James, began a strong start to a season, as they sold out practically every game imaginable, then were leading the way at the All-Star break.

Things didn’t change in the second-half of the season, as the Cavs remained in the lead until the last day of the 82-game season, and finished strong with a 61-21 season. Not as good as last season’s 66-18 record, but still a great plateau.

Then came the playoffs, the city of Cleveland was in complete euphoria, with the feeling the Cavs had the strongest argument to win the title; I mean, they had the best player in the NBA, they had one of the better benches in the league, and had newly acquired Antawn Jamison from the Wizards in a snag deal. Thing were pretty much rolling in Ohio.

The first round matchup was pretty much an ease for Cleveland, as they took on the very young, but athletic Chicago Bulls. Heck, LeBron at one point thought of it just testing his team out, testing the rotations and testing out the team’s tenacity. The most excitement in the series, was Joakim Noah’s rants, but other than that..it was bland. The series was quickly over in 5 games.

Then came the long awaited rematch with the Celtics. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, was in 2008 when LeBron and co. were not nearly as prepared for a Finals run, as they were this time around. So, the Cavs, Cleveland and even some Boston fans I knew were prepared for a Cavs/Magic Eastern Conference Finals. But then..things took a turn for the worse, as Cleveland picked up a loss at home in Game 2. But, the Cavs redeemed themselves, and stole a victory from Boston on the road, and things began to go back to normal…sadly, it was the last time things would be that way.

Boston quickly won a home game against Cleveland, and knotted the series up. They were on a roll, and then demolished Cleveland in possibly their most embarrassing playoff loss ever.

The rumors began to fly, whether it was LeBron’s elbow, Delonte West with LeBron’s mom or plenty others. Things were not looking good on the Cavs side of things. So how would they respond?

The Cavs would end up losing the decisive Game 6 in Cleveland, as the Celtics look like they had awoken from a long slumber, leaving LeBron, the Cavs, the city of Cleveland and Ohio in utter disgust. Again, the Cavs would reach another early offseason.

Things at this point are very bitter and confusing in Cleveland. The Cavs were just taken out by what looked like a washed up C’s team, and LeBron might have played his last game with a Cavs jersey on. Clear reason to be bitter.

As the offseason arrived, the Cavs had numerous questions; who would the Cavs fire? What changed were to come? Any trades? Would they even attempt to resign LeBron?

Well the first major move came not too long ago, as the Cavs decided to fire head coach Mike Brown, on May 25th whom had the most wins, and highest winning percentage in the past two season combined. Just goes to show how bad Cleveland wants a championship.

Then today, as I was exploring the Twitterverse, a surprising tweet came along from Cavs insider, Brian Windhorst:

“Danny Ferry tells the Plain Dealer he has resigned as general manager of the Cavs”

Hearing this solidified one thing in my mind: The Cavaliers are definitely moving in another direction.

Danny Ferry who practically stole Mo Williams from the Bucks, Shaq from the Suns, and Antawn Jamsion from the Wizards, was announced to have parted ways with the organization around 2:00 PM ET, on June 4th.

Now with the two key figures in Cavaliers management, and tactical approach long gone, where do the Cavs go from here? Will there be a whole roster change? Does Dan Gilbert have something up his sleeve?

Does LeBron change ways with the Cavs, or take his own direction? Maybe, maybe not. But maybe on last Tuesday’s interview with Larry King on CNN, LeBron might have been honest, when saying Cleveland has the edge.

Possibly…

Might I add, there is the rumor flying that  Mo Williams and Delonte are on the trade block for the Cavs.

What’s next? Tom Izzo to coach the Cavaliers?

Who knows….

…no one knows, but I can guarantee all of you fans out there, that this summer will be hellish, so stick along for the ride, and I promise I will as well.

More to come…

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* – Quick Loans Arena image source

* – LeBron & KG image source

* – Mike and Ferry image source

And there was something for every fan who attended the game. whether it be a Season Ticket Holder Chalk Talk Meeting with Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry, special recognition for CavFanatic Social Network Members, or receiving a Mo Williams Collectible Bobblehead.

Despite all of the controversy surrounding players on both teams–including the NBA’s indefinite suspension of Washington Guard Gilbert Arenas and the Cavs waiving its former Guard Kobe Karl an hour before tip-off, the Cavs remained focused. Two of the team’s most recent additions, played their best games since they have been in Cleveland: Center Shaquille O’ Neal scored 17 points, got 6 rebounds and 1 assist, while Guard/Forward Anthony Parker scored 16 points, going 4 of 5 in 3 pointers made.

Other Cavs scoring in double digits were: LeBron with 23 pts (7 rebounds, 8 assists), Varejao with 12 pts (8 rebounds, 3 assists), Ilgauskas with 12 pts (8 rebounds), and West adding 14 pts (4 rebounds, 6 assists).

An hour before the game began; GM Danny Ferry addressed a room full of Cavs Season Ticket Holders. The most popular question of the night was whether or not the Cavs Organization would resign Lebron James. Ferry responded that winning a championship was very important to LeBron, Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert, and the rest of the Front Office. And that winning a championship this season, and resigning LeBron were the Cavs top priorities. He also said that Gilbert was all in to make Cleveland a championship city, and the new casino would compliment this goal.

Ferry added that the Cavs Organization could pay LeBron more money than any other team could, and the ultimate deciding factor is that LeBron wants to win. And when asked about all the recent hoopla regarding LeBron’s supposed new athletic shoe line—featuring an “I love New York” statement on the bottom—Ferry said that pictures of the shoe were photo-shopped.

When asked about the mental status of Cavs Guard Delonte West, Ferry said that West was following his program and doing well. He added that West may or may not be in the starting line up in the future, but he was still an X-Factor. And when asked about the status of Forward Leon Powe, Ferry was optimistic that Powe may be able to play with the team in February.

I believe that before season’s end, the Cavaliers will have a new power forward, with Zyrdunas Ilguaskas being the most likely to go.

With the acquistion of Shaquille O’Neal, Big Z just doesn’t seem to fit anymore. Some argue that he has been through so much over the years that he has become an integral member of this team.

My answer: This is a business.

The front office will do whatever it takes to win a championship. There’s no feelings or emotions involved.

Back to the point, the Cavs have one of the oldest, if not the oldest, frontcourts in the NBA. The Cavs have to be thinking about bringing some more youth onto this team, and it’s a good thing they have Ilgauskas’s $11 million contract to toy with, especially with the huge free agent summer coming up.

Many teams will be looking to clear up cap space by February (trade deadline) and will be willing to take on that contract.

Some possible suitors for the power forward position could be David West, Troy Murphy, Boris Diaw, or Al Harrington, with the team looking to add some shooters to stretch the floor for LeBron and Shaq.

Make the right move Mr. Ferry.

Maybe Ferry lost out because some of his work started at last year’s NBA trade deadline. While those moves didn’t pay true dividends until this season, trading Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, and Drew Gooden for Ben Wallace, Wally Sczerbiak, Delonte West, and Joe Smith did this year.

But if you don’t want to credit Ferry for moves he made last season, the moves he made this year – and the moves he didn’t make – should have been enough.

Mo Williams for Damon Jones

If Ferry would have traded Damon Jones to Milwaukee for a box of basketballs, that would have been a good move. However, in return for the services of Damon Jones, the Cavaliers got an All Star PG, and the best second option that LeBron has had in his NBA career. Sure Joe Smith was part of that deal too – initially -but Ferry ended up getting him back later, for nothing. Oh and by the way, they have that All Star Williams locked up for years to come.

The role of Delonte West

There are a lot of GM’s in this league that would have never paired a 6’1″ PG (Mo Williams) with a 6’3″ SG (Delonte West) as starters in today’s NBA, but Danny Ferry and Mike Brown did just that. A lot of people thought Delonte West would go to the bench, or be moved, upon the acquisition of Williams, but that didn’t happen. They started him from day one, and it paid dividends. How player is that man?

Joe Smith

I mentioned it earlier, but the Cavaliers traded Smith in the off-season, only to get him back for the second half of the year, and the playoffs, without giving up anything.. Joe Beast has been more than productive in his time as a Cavalier, and after spending time during the second half of last season, he stepped right in to a locker room, and system, that he was already familiar with.

The moves he didn’t make

Over the last couple seasons everybody in Cleveland had an opinion of what move Ferry should make. The majority of people wanted Mike Bibby. Ferry didn’t pull the trigger, and looking at it now, there is no way that Mike Bibby would be a more productive player than Williams. Beyond that, people were clamoring at this year’s trade deadline for guys like Amare Stoudamire, Shaq, Brad Miller, etc, etc. Instead Ferry held serve, and preserved a locker room that had a developed a camaraderie, and chemistry unrivaled in the league. Good or bad, a major shake-up at the deadline would have changed that chemistry, and Ferry made the correct decision to not meddle with that.

The wins.

Danny Ferry was the General Manager who put together a roster that won an NBA best 66 wins, a total that was up from less than 50 the year before. That does it most years, but apparently not this time. Instead, Denver’s second place record in the West was good enough.

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JD Shaver is a featured columnist at Midwest Sports Fans who also runs Shaver Sports, where they discuss everything you ever wanted to know about Cleveland sports.

JD Shaver’s contributions to Midwest Sports Fans are sponsored by BigTimeGameBoards.com, the company that helps you tailgate like a champion with our high quality cornhole boards, sets and accessories. And if you don’t know what cornhole is, you aren’t a Midwesterner.

I believe Ferry when he said that a lot of the names (Shaq, Amar’e, Richard Jeffereson, Marcus Camby) people are throwing around “really weren’t available to us.” Of course they weren’t. And by the way, those guys didn’t get traded to anyone either. But besides that, how many GM’s really were looking to actually negotiate with Ferry anyways? Would you want to if you are a GM? The last two trades he made were complete heists. The deadline deal he made last year was a complete roster overhaul, and upgrade, and he did that without ‘re-building’ or mortgaging any financial flexibility in 2010. That move was only bettered by the absolute fleecing of the Bucks for Mo Williams – we’ll take Mo Williams and you can have Damon Jones? Seriously?

In GM circles, I gotta beat, that Danny Ferry has got to be likened to that older cousin who trades baseball cards with you only to rip you off. By the time you are old enough to realize that you’ve traded away your Griffey and Bonds rookie cards for Greg Swindell and Felix Fermin, you just make the decision not trade with that cousin anymore.

But, with all that aside, the general idea that the Cavaliers ‘have’ to add another piece is ridiculous. No, the Clippers need to add another piece. Cleveland, on the other hand, is now 43-11 after beating Milwaukee last night. They’re kinda okay. To say that the Cavaliers have to make a move to win a title means that you are extremely undervaluing chemistry and Delonte West.

The chemistry level on this team is at an all time high during the LBJ era, and with 30 games to go, I am glad that chemistry doesn’t have to be challenged. All season long you have seen the bench on their feet acting like Duke walkons, and on the court everybody is stepping up and contributing. That is worth something. And so is Delonte West. He’ll be coming back from injury within the week, and don’t think that West coming back won’t cure some of what challenges the Cavaliers. Delonte has missed the last 36 games, and before he went down, they were 24-4 with him in the starting line-up. That’s a nice piece to pick up at the deadline – without giving up anything.

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JD Shaver is a featured columnist at Midwest Sports Fans who also runs Shaver Sports, where they discuss everything you ever wanted to know about Cleveland sports.

JD Shaver’s contributions to Midwest Sports Fans are sponsored by BigTimeGameBoards.com, the company that helps you tailgate like a champion with our high quality cornhole boards, sets and accessories. And if you don’t know what cornhole is, you aren’t a Midwesterner.