2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season


The 2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 40th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association. The Cavaliers finished with the best record in the NBA at 61–21, earning them first place in the East. The season saw LeBron James win his second MVP award.
After defeating the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls in the first round, the Cavs couldn't go any further as they lost to the 4th-seeded Boston Celtics in six games in the Semifinals. Following the season, head coach Mike Brown was fired, James signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat, but would return to the Cavaliers in 2014, Shaquille O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics, which turned out to be O'Neal's final season as a player, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas also left the team to join the Miami Heat.
After LeBron's departure, the Cavaliers struggled greatly without him for four seasons, and entered a state of rebuilding. The Cavaliers would not make the playoffs again until 2015, when LeBron returned to the Cavaliers.
As of 2019, this was the last time the team won 60 or more games.

Key dates

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege/Club Team
130Christian EyengaG/F DR CongoCB Prat
246Danny GreenG/FUnited StatesNorth Carolina

Roster

Pre-season

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

First Round

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Chicago Bulls

Conference Semifinals

Player statistics

Regular season

Stats with the Cavaliers

1Did not start or finish the season with the Cavs.

Playoffs

Awards, Records and Milestones

Awards

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

Trades

On February 17, the Cavaliers completed a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers, acquiring Antawn Jamison from Washington and Sebastian Telfair from L.A. The Cavs sent Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Wizards, plus a first round draft pick in 2010 and the rights to Emir Preldžić.
On March 23, the Cavaliers re-signed Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the remainder of the season after his contract was bought out by the Washington Wizards. The Cavaliers also waived Darnell Jackson to make room on the roster.