The LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers could’ve been a playoff team much faster

LeBron James could’ve had a much better Cleveland Cavaliers squad upon his arrival.

LeBron James didn’t debut as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers with much help. On the contrary, the team was quite thin, especially when it came to shooters. The team wasn’t devoid of talent at all, obviously, as they did have some guys worth having.

They had future All-Star and Cavaliers icon Zydrunas Ilgauskas, double-double machine Carlos Boozer, a high-end scorer in Ricky Davis, and a finisher in transition with Darius Miles.

Boozer would leave town because the Cavs trusted his word, didn’t pick up his third-year option, and instead let him become a free agent, with the idea the Cavs would throw a lot of money at him. Instead, he went against his word, according to the Cavs, and signed with the Utah Jazz.

While Davis wasn’t a great player, he was better than the players he was traded for. Davis was dealt to the Boston Celtics for Tony Battie, Eric Williams, and Kedrick Brown. None of them helped the club in any real way. As for Miles, he had no real skills but was ultra-athletic. He was traded by the Cavs for Jeff McInnis.

Those weren’t the only players who lost to ineptitude after James arrived. The Cavs got sharp-shooting forward Jason Kapono in the same draft as James and while he didn’t put up much scoring as a rookie, he would get selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the expansion draft and he’d turn into a great three-point shooter for his era.

His loss is still mind-numbing. The Cavs could protect eight players in the expansion draft and for some reason, they didn’t see him as a Top 8 player on the squad. Guys like James and Ilguaskas made sense to protect, but the Cavs only had nine players under contract heading into the 04-05 season; Kapono, James, Ilgauskas, McGinnis, Tony Battie, Desagna Diop, Kevin Ollie, Ira Newble, and Desagna Diop. Somehow, Diop and Wagner were seen in a better light than Kapono, as Newble, Ollie, and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje (never suited for the Cavs) would be left unprotected.

Those four losses were a mixed bag, admittedly, but they were upgrades over who James had. The biggest issues, however, were with the dismantling of the team prior to James’ arrival. James works best when he has a crop of good shooters and defenders and that’s what James could have had in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers could’ve had a much better lineup for LeBron James

When you think about guys like Miles or Chris Mihm, the fact is that the team should never have made those moves. Firstly, let’s look at a defensive wing and perimeter player in Tyrone Hill. Sure, he was on his last legs, but defensively he could still go. He was waived by the Cavs the year before James arrived.

Then there were the trades of Wesley Person and LaMond Murray, two shooters. Person got dealt in July of 2002 for Nick Anderson and Matt Barnes, while Murray got dealt in September of 2002 for Michael Stewart and a first-rounder that I see no record of the Cavs ever having.

They’re not the most egregious, the most egregious is that the Cavs traded away 2000 draftee Jamal Crawford in a draft-day trade for Mihm, and Andre Miller got dealt in the 2002 offseason for Darius Miles.

While some of those moves may have made the Cavaliers bad enough to get James in the first place, just imagine this lineup and rotation.

"PG: Andre Miller, Jamal CrawfordSG: Wesley Person, Ricky DavisSF: LeBron James, LaMond MurrayPF: Carlos Boozer, Jason KoponoC:  Zydrunas Ilguaskas, Tyrone Hill"

And then you add Anderson Varejoa to the mix? Though, he may not have come to the Cavs had the Cavs not traded for Tony Battie, whatever.

But this very clearly could’ve been a great team if the squad was better managed. The Cavs didn’t have to suffer through the likes of Drew Gooden and Ira Newble as starters.