The Cavaliers have decided to take what the Miami Heat were willing to offer them in a sign and trade deal for LeBron James. The Cavaliers will get two first round picks (believed to be in 2013 and 2015), two second round picks (believed to be in 2011 and 2012), the right to swap first round picks in 2012 and a $16 million dollar trade exception. In essence the Cavs will be able to add a player or players using up to $16 million bucks but they only have it for one year (2010-11). They also snag four picks from the Heat that they wouldn’t have gotten if they just let him walk away. Although the Cavs didn’t get nearly enough for James it was smart business to make this deal.

25-year old small forward LeBron James decided tonight to leave home and sign with the Miami Heat. James leaves Cleveland as the all-time leader in both scoring (15,521) and steals (955). He also finishes his time with the Cavs #4 in games played (548), #2 in assists (3,810), #4 in rebounds (3,861), #2 in blocked shots (936) and #2 in three pointers made (771). No matter how he tries to spin it “Prince” James couldn’t hack it in Cleveland. The Cavs did everything they could going way over the salary cap and paying the luxury tax every year to bring in big time talent to put around James. Did anyone ever think that he might be a big part of the problem in not winning a championship? He must think so as he needs to join Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami. Still, he has a right to make that decision and I don’t have a problem with him leaving. I have a BIG problem with how he did it. An hour long special on ESPN for a player who has never even won a game in the NBA Finals to decide where he’s going to play? Really? And he had to give it a moniker “The Decision”. Wow that will go down with “The Drive”, “The Shot” and “The Fumble” in Cleveland sports lore. He might go down as the best player in Cleveland Cavaliers’ history but I wouldn’t dare retire his number until he takes a dirt nap. James is now the second most hated man in Cleveland next to Art Modell but he can’t run away because the Heat will have a couple of games at the Q next season.

The Cavaliers have signed 49-year old Byron Scott to a 3-year contract to be the next head coach of the team. He was only 3-6 (33.3%) last season when he was fired by the Hornets. He has been a head coach 10 years for the Nets & Hornets in which he compiled a 352-355 record (49.8%) during the regular season. Scott also has a post season record of 33-24 (57.9%) as a head coach and he has been to the NBA Finals twice (2001-02, 2002-03 with the Nets). Scott was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2008 with the Hornets when he led the team to a 56-26 (68.3%) regular season record. Scott won three NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers as a player. He played 14 years in the NBA in which he played in 1,073 games (717 starts) and he averaged 28.1 minutes, 14.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Personally I think Scott was signed because he fits what LeBron James wants and that is a good coach who was a NBA player too unlike former coach Mike Brown.

Danny Ferry has decided to resign as the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers after five years on the job. His contract was going to up at the end of this month anyway. Ferry couldn’t get together with owner Dan Gilbert on an extension plus he couldn’t have been too happy with the firing of Mike Brown who he handpicked for the head coaching job five years ago. The Cavaliers were 272-138 (66.3%) under Ferry’s watch which is pretty impressive. Chris Grant takes over as the Cavs’ GM after serving the last few years under Danny Ferry as his assistant. Grant will be under a lot of pressure to win a NBA Championship and to do that he will need to convince LeBron James to return to Cleveland. I don’t think James liked Ferry much so this move might have been made thinking that it will give the Cavs a better chance of retaining him.

24-year old point guard Sebastian Telfair appeared to be little more than a throw in when the Cavs made the big deal to land Antwan Jamison last February. But he has picked up his option valued at $2.7 million bucks to stick around with the Cavs for this season. Telfair played in 4 games (0 starts) at the end of the year for the Cavs and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 9.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 3.0 assists per game. He played in 43 games (1 start) overall for the Cavs & Clippers last season in which he averaged 15.3 minutes, 4.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has now played in 392 games (181 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 23.6 minutes, 7.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Telfair will have to battle his way up the depth chart to get any playing time in 2010-11 for the Cavs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have fired 40-year old head coach Mike Brown. Brown led the Cavs to a 61-21 (74.4%) record this season during the regular season but he was 6-5 (54.5%) in the playoffs and he clearly got outcoached by Doc Rivers of the Celtics. In his five years with the Cavs, Brown compiled a 272-138 (66.3%) record during the regular season and he was 42-29 (59.2%) in the post season. Brown was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2008 and he got the Cavs to the NBA Finals in 2006-07 when they were swept by the Spurs. Despite Brown being a solid coach during the regular season he got fired for being repeatedly outcoached in the playoffs. He blew his big shot as the next gig he gets will be with a team that is rebuilding from the bottom up. The Cavaliers will likely be looking for a high profile coach with some rings on his fingers.

The Cavaliers have re-signed 34-year old center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas has sat out the last month after getting bought out by the Washington Wizards. Big Z has played in 53 games (6 starts) for the Cavs this season and he has averaged 20.5 minutes, 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Ilgauskas has played in 760 games (673 starts) in his career with the Cavaliers in which he has averaged 28.4 minutes, 13.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. This was a outstanding move for the Cavaliers who have the deepest frontline in the NBA even with Shaquille O’Neal out of action.

The Cavs have released 24-year old power forward Darnell Jackson. Jackson played in 27 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 4.2 minutes, 0.8 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He only shot 32% from the floor this season for the Cavs. In his two years with the Cavaliers, Jackson played in 78 games (2 starts) in which he averaged 7.0 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. The Cavaliers are so deep on the frontline that they won’t miss Jackson at all. But, he should get a chance with another team this year because he does have talent.

The Cavaliers also included 2009 draft pick Emir Preldzic to the Wizards in the Antwan Jamison trade. Here is what was said about him when the Cavs picked him up:

The Cavs bought Emir Preldzic from the Suns on draft night. The 21-year old small forward is a typical soft European player. He played in 156 games in five seasons in Europe and he averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Don’t expect him to make much of a impact for a long time….if at all.

He has not played in the NBA yet so the Cavs see him as no loss.

24-year old point guard Sebastian Telfair might not get to play much for the Cavaliers the rest of the way but he strengthens the bench. Telfair played in 39 games (1 start) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He has now played in 388 games (181 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 23.6 minutes, 7.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Telfair’s main problem has been his shooting in his NBA career as he has only made 39% of his shots from the floor. Telfair will probably be behind Mo Williams, Delonte West and Dennis Gibson on the depth chart at point guard.