2005–06 Cleveland Cavaliers season
The 2005–06 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 36th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 50–32 record, and a second-place finish in the Central Division, returning to the playoffs since 1998. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards in six games in the first round and reached the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference where they lost in seven games to the Detroit Pistons. LeBron James was the team's leading scorer and was named to the All-NBA first team. He was also selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game where he was the game's MVP.
Key Dates:
- On June 2, owner Dan Gilbert named Mike Brown the 17th head coach in team history.
- On June 27, Gilbert named Danny Ferry the 8th general manager in team history.
- On June 28, the 2005 NBA draft took place in New York City.
- In July, the free agency period began.
- On October 10, the Cavaliers' preseason began with a 116–94 win over Washington.
- On November 2, the Cavaliers' season began with a 109–87 win over New Orleans/Oklahoma City.
- On February 13, the Cavaliers defeated the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.
- On March 29, the Cavaliers clinched their first playoff berth in seven years.
- On April 9, the Cavaliers clinched home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
- On May 5, the Cavs advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.
- On May 21, the Cavaliers' season ended in a second-round loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Offseason
Free agents
Trades
Draft picks
Cleveland did not have a draft pick in the 2005 NBA Draft due to trades from previous seasons.- 1st round pick traded to Phoenix in Wesley Person deal, sent to Charlotte as part of expansion selection. Used to draft Sean May.
- 2nd round pick traded to Orlando in Drew Gooden deal. Used to draft Martynas Andriuskevicius who was traded back to Cleveland.
Roster
Regular depth chart
Player salaries
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Player stats
Regular Season| Player | GP | GS | MIN | FG% | FT% | 3FG% | STL | BLK | AST | REB | PTS |
| LeBron James | 79 | 79 | 42.5 | 48.0% | 73.8% | 33.5% | 1.56 | .84 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 31.4 |
| Zydrunas Ilgauskas | 78 | 78 | 29.3 | 50.6% | 83.4% | 0.0% | .49 | 1.74 | 1.2 | 7.6 | 15.6 |
| Larry Hughes | 36 | 31 | 35.6 | 40.9% | 75.6% | 36.8% | 1.47 | .58 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 15.5 |
| Flip Murray | 28 | 25 | 36.7 | 44.8% | 70.2% | 30.8% | 1.36 | .25 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 13.5 |
| Drew Gooden | 79 | 79 | 27.5 | 51.2% | 68.2% | 33.3% | .66 | .62 | .7 | 8.4 | 10.7 |
| Donyell Marshall | 81 | 0 | 25.6 | 39.5% | 74.8% | 32.4% | .73 | .51 | .7 | 6.1 | 9.3 |
| Damon Jones | 82 | 7 | 25.5 | 38.7% | 64.0% | 37.7% | .45 | .01 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Eric Snow | 82 | 0 | 28.8 | 40.9% | 68.8% | 10.0% | .93 | .23 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 4.8 |
| Anderson Varejão | 48 | 4 | 15.8 | 52.7% | 51.3% | 0.0% | .65 | .40 | .4 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
| Sasha Pavlović | 53 | 19 | 15.3 | 41.0% | 65.3% | 36.5% | .36 | .11 | .5 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| Stephen Graham | 13 | 0 | 9.0 | 42.4% | 88.9% | 0.0% | .23 | .15 | .2 | 1.3 | 2.8 |
| Luke Jackson | 36 | 0 | 8.8 | 34.1% | 78.8% | 33.3% | .31 | .06 | .7 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Alan Henderson | 51 | 3 | 10.4 | 51.6% | 67.3% | 0.0% | .18 | .24 | .2 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Zendon Hamilton | 11 | 0 | 4.2 | 53.8% | 68.8% | 0.0% | .03 | .00 | .0 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| Ira Newble | 36 | 3 | 9.8 | 29.3% | 68.8% | 23.1% | .14 | .28 | .3 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Mike Wilks | 37 | 0 | 6.6 | 28.8% | 50.0% | 14.3% | .02 | .00 | .5 | .7 | 1.1 |
| Martynas Andriuskevicius | 6 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | .33 | .00 | .0 | .7 | 0.0 |
Playoffs
| Player | GP | GS | MIN | FG% | FT% | 3FG% | STL | BLK | AST | REB | PTS |
| LeBron James | 13 | 13 | 46.5 | 47.6% | 73.7% | 33.3% | 1.38 | .69 | 5.8 | 8.1 | 30.8 |
| Larry Hughes | 9 | 8 | 37.3 | 31.9% | 74.2% | 27.8% | 2.20 | .11 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 11.1 |
| Zydrunas Ilgauskas | 13 | 13 | 27.2 | 45.4% | 75.0% | 0.0% | .38 | 2.08 | .8 | 6.3 | 10.4 |
| Donyell Marshall | 13 | 0 | 26.5 | 43.3% | 88.2% | 39.1% | .54 | .69 | .6 | 5.6 | 9.5 |
| Drew Gooden | 13 | 13 | 21.7 | 52.9% | 94.4% | 0.0% | .23 | .15 | .6 | 7.5 | 8.2 |
| Flip Murray | 13 | 5 | 30.7 | 33.0% | 81.3% | 20.8% | .69 | .15 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 8.1 |
| Anderson Varejão | 13 | 0 | 18.3 | 62.0% | 70.3% | 0.0% | .69 | .15 | .2 | 4.5 | 6.8 |
| Eric Snow | 13 | 13 | 31.4 | 42.0% | 75.9% | 0.0% | .85 | .23 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 6.6 |
| Damon Jones | 13 | 0 | 13.9 | 30.8% | 75.0% | 27.8% | .15 | .00 | .9 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Ira Newble | 5 | 0 | 2.2 | 1.000% | 0.0% | 1.000% | .20 | .00 | .0 | .4 | 1.4 |
| Alan Henderson | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | .00 | .00 | .0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Sasha Pavlović | 3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | .00 | .00 | .0 | .3 | 0.0 |
Playoffs
2006 marked the first time LeBron James made the playoffs in his career, and the first time the Cavaliers had made the playoffs since 1998 with Shawn Kemp. They came off a playoff series win vs the Wizards, while the Pistons came in off a 4–1 win vs the 8th seeded Bucks. Detroit was expected to win the series, and took a commanding two games to none lead with two wins at the Palace of Auburn Hills. James and the Cavaliers would not be intimidated however, and won their two games at home to tie the series 2–2. Coming into game 5, both teams were confident, but the Pistons were expected to pull out the win easily. The game was low scoring throughout as usual in this series, with Cleveland holding a 68 to 66 lead throughout 3 quarters. With the game tied at 84 with 26 seconds left in regulation, Drew Gooden came through and hit a layup to give Cleveland the lead that they would never squander. James led the Cavs with 32 and this brought the series to Cleveland up 3–2, quite shockingly. Detroit held on to a 2-point win to win game 6, and won game 7 at home to seal the deal, but this was the coming out party for the Cavaliers in the playoffs, scaring the 2004 champs.Awards and records
Awards
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from November 14 through November 20.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from January 24 through January 30.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from March 14 through March 20.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from March 21 through March 27.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from March 27 through April 2. He became the first player in NBA history to win the award three consecutive weeks.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for the month of November, the third time he has won the award.
- LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for the month of March, the fourth time he has won the award.
- LeBron James was named to the All-NBA first team. James is the youngest first-teamer in NBA history and only the second Cavalier to receive the honors.
- LeBron James finished in 2nd place in league MVP voting.
Records
- On November 19, vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, Larry Hughes and LeBron James became the first two teammates in franchise history to score 35 points or more in the same game.
- LeBron James set the franchise single-season record for points with 2,478.
- LeBron James set other franchise records for: scoring average, field goals made, field goals attempted, free throws made, and free throws attempted.
- LeBron James set the franchise record for points in a single postseason with 400.
- In Game 6 of the Washington Wizards First Round series, the team set a franchise record for bench points with 57.
- LeBron James set the franchise record for points in a single postseason series with 214.
- Mike Brown became the first coach in franchise history to win a playoff series in his first year.
- For the season, LeBron James led the team in scoring for a game 72 times, a franchise record.
- The Cavaliers finished the season 5–0 in overtime games, a franchise record for wins and %.
Milestones
- On November 13, LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 4,000 career points.
- On January 21, LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 5,000 career points.
- On March 29, LeBron James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 6,000 career points.
- On April 13, Mike Brown won his 48th game as head coach, the most by a rookie coach in franchise history.
- For the season, LeBron James made 19/29 field goals attempts in the last two minutes of a one-possession game. He led the league in that statistic.
All-Star
- LeBron James came in third in Eastern Conference votes received and was voted in as a starter for the 2006 NBA All-Star Game for the 2nd time in his career. He became the first Cavalier in team history to start multiple All-Star games and the 7th to play in multiple games.
- LeBron James became the youngest All-Star Game MVP in NBA history with 29 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in the East's 122–120 win.
- LeBron James participated in the Skills Challenge and finished in 2nd place.
- LeBron James led his team in points, rebounds and assists in a game 16 times, a league-high.
Transactions
Trades
Free agents
*Waived by team mid-season and later re-signed to two 10-day contracts.**Signed to two successive 10-day contracts and then the remainder of the season.
***Traded for and then immediately waived before playing in a game.
Development League
- On January 22, Martynas Andriuskevicius was assigned to the NBDL's Arkansas Rimrockers.
- On February 1, Martynas Andriuskevicius was recalled from the Rimrockers.
- On March 2, Martynas Andriuskevicius was reassigned to the Rimrockers.
- On March 6, Martynas Andriuskevicius was recalled from the Rimrockers.
- On March 16, Martynas Andriuskevicius was reassigned to the Rimrockers.
- On April 12, Martynas Andriuskevicius was recalled from the Rimrockers.