INDEPENDENCE — Missed shots, missed defensive assignments and missed opportunities will haunt the Cavaliers for the entire offseason.
Cleveland came painfully close to upsetting the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, only to come up five points short in the decisive seventh game Sunday.
It was a heartbreaking way for the Cavaliers’ reign as East champions to end, which was evident Monday afternoon when just three players opted to speak with the media after cleaning out their lockers at Cleveland Clinic Courts.
“It came down to one made shot, a mistake here and there or a rebound,” center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said with a shrug. “We were right there. It just wasn’t good enough. The older you get, it hurts more because you know each year you lose is a year you’re never gaining back.
“I thought we had a chance to win it all, but what are you going to do?”
Unfortunately for the Cavs, there’s nothing they can do except watch the rest of the playoffs and reflect on the double-digit leads it held over the Celtics in Games 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, as well as the six-point advantage it built before losing Game 1.
Even with LeBron James shooting a career playoff-low .355 from the field and the team averaging just 85.1 points per game, the Cavaliers had a golden opportunity to beat the winningest team in the NBA, but couldn’t finish the job.
“Not taking advantage of Game 1 is a game we can kick ourselves about,” general manager Danny Ferry said. “Our margin of error was small, and we just couldn’t get it done.
“If we had seized a couple of opportunities, we could still be playing. That’s why today stinks.”
Ferry and coach Mike Brown head into the offseason knowing they must find a way to improve a ballclub with all of its key players either under contract or under control – and that is already well over the NBA’s projected salary cap for 2008-2009.
Adding to their urgency is James’ contract, which expires following the 2010 NBA Finals, but can be extended next summer. “The Chosen One” joined all 14 of his teammates for a morning meeting at the team’s Independence headquarters, but declined to talk to the press.
That left Ilgauskas, power forward Joe Smith and point guard Delonte West to field inquiries about his future — less than 24 hours after James said the Cavaliers “need to continue to get better. If that means some personnel changes need to happen, then so be it.”
“As long as he’s here, Cleveland is always going to be right there competing for the Eastern Conference finals,” West said. “It’s not like we’ve got to start over. We lost to a quality team. Give us a whole year, a whole training camp and a whole season, and we could be a dominant force in this league.”
Ilgauskas, who has been with the Cavaliers since 1996, sympathized with James, but cautioned against making wholesale changes. After adding Smith, West, Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace in a blockbuster trade in mid-February, the team never regained its once-solid chemistry and paid for it against the Celtics.
The megadeal with Seattle and Chicago, though, was merely the icing on the cake as Cleveland’s roster was in flux all season, starting with the unprecedented holdouts of restricted free agents Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao.
The Cavaliers wound up using an NBA-high and team-record tying 23 players. Only three of those players – James Ilgauskas and Damon Jones — played in both the regular-season opener and the playoff finale.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be careful and sometimes you’ve got to take a chance. We took a chance,” Ilgauskas said. “The management here has put us in position to succeed. But (when analyzing future trades) sometimes you’ve got to realize the grass is not always greener on the other side.”
Ferry and Brown echoed those thoughts, with the coach saying, “We won’t make a move just to make a move. We’ll only make a move to get better.”
Despite having the fourth-highest payroll in the league at approximately $81 million, Cleveland does have a number of options to add talent, starting with its midlevel ($5.5 million) and bi-annual ($1.8 million) cap exceptions. It also holds the No. 19 pick in the NBA Draft.
Its biggest bargaining chip, though, is the $24.8 million owed to guards Szczerbiak, Jones and Eric Snow. All of their contracts expire following next season, making them extremely attractive to low-revenue teams looking to shed salary.
The Cavaliers also aren’t under any financial constraints if they want to re-sign West and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, who become restricted free agents on July 1. Cleveland can match any offer sheet they sign, but also has the option of trading them.
After taking a step backward this year in the postseason, anything is possible with the wine and gold.
“Making the playoffs and winning a series isn’t good enough around here, and that’s the way it should be,” Ilgauskas said. “It’s considered a failure when you don’t win the championship.”
In other words, expect a busy offseason — and James to get his wish for more help.
“This time of year is about finding ways to improve,” Ferry said. “Our platform for our organization is in a good spot. We have flexibility going forward and we all want to win, from (owner) Dan Gilbert to Mike Brown to LeBron. We want to be the group that helps this city celebrate a championship.”
Contact Brian Dulik at sports@ohio.net.
 

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