The LeBron James era was no better than the Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance era of the Cavaliers.  47-year old Mark Price was a big part of the success the Cavaliers had those years and that’s why his number is hanging from the roof of the Q.  Price played in 582 games (495 starts) in his 9 regular seasons with the Cavaliers and he averaged 31.1 minutes, 16.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Price also played well in the playoffs.  He played in 47 games in the playoffs for the Cavaliers and he averaged 36.0 minutes, 17.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Price is the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in assists (4,206), three pointers made (802) and free throw % (90.6%).  He is also #6 in games played (582), #2 in steals (734) and he’s #5 in points scored (9,543) in Cavaliers’ history.  Price was a little man (6’0″, 170 pounds) who had a fire that burned in him that caused him to succeed.  He also had Christian concerts after games quite often, showing what kind of a guy he was off the court.  Mark Price, unlike another unnamed player, exuded class and that’s why he is revered in Cleveland sports history.

When Mo Williams went down to injury, 25-year old point guard Ramon Sessions took advantage of the situation.  Sessions played in 81 games (38 starts) for the Cavaliers last year and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  Sessions has now played in 259 games (85 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.1 minutes, 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.  If the Cavaliers decide to take point guard Kyrie Irving with the #1 overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers will likely deal Ramon Sessions on draft night, trying to add another late first round pick.

50-year old head coach Byron Scott took the Cavaliers’ job not knowing if LeBron James would be playing for him or not.  Scott had to be upset on the inside about the “Decision” but he didn’t show it too much.  He tried everything he could do to help the Cavaliers play better as he was constantly changing the starting lineup.  Injuries to Anderson Varejao and Antawn Jamison ruined any chance of the Cavaliers being a truly competitive team last year.  The Cavaliers stumbled to finish 19-63 (23.2%) during the regular season.  Scott now has a 371-418 (47%) record in his career during the regular season and he is 33-24 (57.9%) in the post-season.  The Lakers probably want Scott to coach the Lakers but the Cavaliers aren’t interested in letting that happen unless they offer them an offer that they can’t possibly refuse (at least a first round pick).

22-year old power forward J.J. Hickson’s 2010-11 season was a tale of two halves.  In the first half of the year he appeared to be sleepwalking which got him banished into Byron Scott’s Dog House.  But, after Anderson Varejao went down for the season due to injury, Hickson turned into a double-double monster for the Cavs.  Hickson played in 80 games (66 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 28.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has now played in 223 games (139 starts) in his first three years with the Cavaliers and he is averaging 20.9 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  The best is yet to come for Hickson, who the Cavs must now consider a core player for the future.