Woe is the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise, going from the top team in the NBA online wagering last season to being relegated to NBA irrelevancy in the stroke of a pen. When Akron Ohio born and bred superstar LeBron James, the man who had single-handedly put Cleveland on the map, decide to “…take [his] talent to South Beach” he also took the hopes and dreams of an entire city with him
The fallout from his ill-announced decision continues to surface and anyone familiar with the NBA wagering online action can certainly understand the cities frustration, disappointment and more than anything it’s sadness at losing the best basketball player on the planet. James was the only good thing that’s happened to that city’s online wagering sports scene in the past decade and the biggest sports superstar in the city’s history…even bigger than Jim Brown!
But now it’s all gone and the Cavs will go from being the best team in the league to being a being one of the worst all in the blink of an eye. In the 2009-10 NBA wagering online action the Cavs posted the league’s best record (61-21) and heading into the online wagering post season was not only the best team but also the favorite in the NBA odds to win the NBA title.
But then disaster struck; some controversy involving LeBron’s mother and a teammate, which seems to have visibly affected his performance in the playoff series against Boston, and the Cavs’ title hopes went up in smoke.
And with LeBron leaving this team’s title hopes will be put on the shelf for a very long time, no matter what disgruntled Cavs owner Dan Gilbert might say.
Cleveland is projected to win about 30 games next season, far short of the NBA playoff action. Not only is James gone but so are 3 of the teams’ top 5 scorers. Mo Williams will be left as the face of the franchise but his 15.8 ppg and 5.3 apg won’t come so easily without James in the lineup and he has almost no help whatsoever. Antawn Jamison is good for 15 points and 8 boards a game but a combo of Williams and Jamison won’t beat anyone and this franchise will likely struggle for years.