History of the Cleveland Cavaliers

[1][2] Playing their home games at Cleveland Arena under the direction of head coach Bill Fitch, they compiled a league-worst 15–67 record in their inaugural season.

The move was done as the Cleveland Arena had fallen into disrepair, and the location was chosen in an effort to draw fans in from nearby Akron and other areas of Northeast Ohio.

In the 1975–76 season with Carr, Smith, Chones, Snyder, and newly acquired Nate Thurmond, Fitch led the Cavaliers to a 49–33 record and a division title.

Fitch received the league's Coach of the Year award as the Cavaliers got their first winning season, made their first-ever playoff appearance, and clinched their first Central Division Title.

[9] Early on in his tenure, Stepien proposed to rename the team the "Ohio Cavaliers", part of a plan that included playing their home games not just in the Cleveland area but in Cincinnati and in non-Ohio markets such as Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

Stepien also oversaw the hiring and firing of a succession of coaches and was involved in making a number of poor trade and free agent signing decisions.

The ensuing chaos had a major effect on both the Cavaliers' on-court performance and lack of local support, going 28–54 in 1980–81 (Stepien's first year as owner), followed by an abysmal 15–67 mark in 1981–82.

After the 1992–93 season, in which the Cavaliers had a 54–28 regular-season record but suffered an early exit from the playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Chicago Bulls, Wilkens left to coach the Atlanta Hawks.

Following the hiring of Mike Fratello as head coach starting with the 1993–94 season, the Cavaliers became one of the NBA's best defensive teams under the leadership of point guard Terrell Brandon.

In the 1994 NBA Playoffs, the last which Daugherty and Nance played in, the Cavaliers yet again met the Chicago Bulls in the first round, led by Scottie Pippen in the wake of Jordan's first retirement.

Despite the arrivals of Andre Miller, Brevin Knight, Lamond Murray, Chris Mihm and Carlos Boozer, the Cavaliers were a perennial lottery team for the early part of the 2000s.

The 2002–03 team finished with the third-worst record in franchise history (17–65), which earned them a tie for last place in the league and a 22.5% chance at winning the NBA Draft Lottery and the first overall selection.

After a promising start, the Cavaliers began a downward spiral that eventually led to the firing of coach Paul Silas and general manager Jim Paxson.

Under new owner Dan Gilbert,[20] the team hired a new head coach, Mike Brown, and a new general manager, former Cavaliers forward Danny Ferry.

[24] The team's first trip to the NBA Finals was a short one, as they were outmatched and outplayed by the deeper, more experienced San Antonio Spurs, who swept the Cavaliers 4–0.

[27] The next off-season, the team made a major change to its lineup, trading G Damon Jones and Smith (who later in the season rejoined the Cavaliers after being released by Oklahoma City) for point guard Mo Williams.

On February 17, 2010, the Cavaliers acquired All-Star forward Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards and Sebastian Telfair from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three team trade.

They signed 2009 first-round pick Christian Eyenga and acquired Ramon Sessions and Ryan Hollins from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade that saw the Cavaliers give away Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair.

[42] The Cavaliers signed free agent forward Earl Clark to a two-year contract and veteran guard Jarrett Jack to a four-year deal.

[65] To make matters worse, Smith and Shumpert had poor Finals campaigns, which led to players such as Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones playing roles that were beyond their capabilities.

[78] At the championship rally later that day, general manager David Griffin noted that "The Shot, The Drive, The Fumble all must now be replaced by The Block, the three, and the D."[79] The 2016–17 season was marred by injuries and unexpected losses for the Cavaliers.

LeBron James described it as one of the "strangest" years of his career,[80] and felt the Cavs' roster was too "top heavy" after falling to 30–14 following a three-game losing streak in late January.

[85] Midseason saw a massive overhaul of the Cavaliers roster, such as trading Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat, Isaiah Thomas to the Los Angeles Lakers for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, and Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder were shipped to the Utah Jazz in exchange for George Hill.

With pairing Sexton and Garland, as well as selecting Windler, Beilein stated favoring implementing a free flowing offense with multiple shooters on the floor together.

During the 2020 NBA trade deadline, the Cavaliers acquired two-time All-Star Andre Drummond from the Detroit Pistons to pair alongside Love, Sexton, and Garland.

the Cavaliers would go against recent NBA "small ball" trends by starting three near seven-footers in Mobley, Allen, and Markkanen - a troika which would become known as the "Tower City" lineup (a reference to Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland) along with guards Sexton and Garland, and wingmen Osman and Okoro to form the young core, with Love and Rubio providing veteran leadership off the bench.

During the 2022 offseason, the Cavs signed veteran center Robin Lopez and resigned Ricky Rubio to help bring depth to the bench and leadership into the locker room.

During the 2023 offseason, the Cavs signed swingman Max Strus, who had helped the Miami Heat reach the 2023 NBA Finals as their new starting small forward.

As the teams played the bulk of their games without various members of the "Big 4" due to assorted injuries, they would finish 48–34, second place in the Central Division and the number four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Cavs defeated the Orlando Magic 4–3 in the first round, but would lose to the Boston Celtics 4–1 in the Conference semifinals, playing the entire series without Jarrett Allen and the last two games without Donovan Mitchell, who were both injured.