This list summarizes the team's season-by-season records, including post-season, and includes select season-end awards won by the team's players and/or coaches.
The Cavaliers were founded in 1970 as an expansion franchise and since their first season, they have always played in the Central Division and the Eastern Conference.
[2] They have been awarded the first overall draft pick six times, choosing Austin Carr (1971), Brad Daugherty (1986), LeBron James (2003), Kyrie Irving (2011), Anthony Bennett (2013) and Andrew Wiggins (2014).
[5] Cleveland's next first overall pick after James, Kyrie Irving, won Rookie of the Year in 2012 and NBA All-Star Game MVP in 2014.
[1][7] In five straight playoff appearances with LeBron James in his first tenure with Cleveland, the Cavs won more playoff games than they lost each season, something they only ever managed, barely, once before, in the 1991–92 season.