Cleveland Cavaliers, What's Next?

LeBron James is gone. Like a bad nightmare, the city of Cleveland once again suffers through a tremendous disappointment. "The Decision" will now go down in infamy with "The Drive," "The Shot," and "The Fumble." But basketball in Cleveland isn't going to die. No, there are still opportunities and there is still a group of players there who have enough pride and determination to push on. The question is what's next?

Well, Dan Gilbert needs to quell the frustration and anger the fans are feeling by spending some of that cap money on someone. I don't mean squander it, but I do hope that he finds a young fresh face he can quickly bring in to let the city know he is serious about the Cavaliers organization.

It is also time to think about making a trade. Many of the players on the roster are great role players brought in to help the King achieve his goal. Without him, many of them could be packaged and moved. The goal with this should be to make enough changes to create positive energy but not so many as to upset the chemistry that helped win obscene numbers of games over the last few years.

After that's accomplished Dan Gilbert can get out of the way and let Byron Scott do what he was brought in to do and that is to create a team of players who work together towards the singular goal of winning a championship. Scott is the right man for the job. He worked hard to make cities like New Jersey and New Orleans respectable basketball towns. Hard work that paid off, even though he was discarded unceremoniously when each organization determined his time was up.

What Scott needs though are hardworking, unselfish players who want to fight for each other night in and night out. This won't be easy, especially when there is no "super star" to hang your hat on when things get tough. But, it can be done. The NBA may be a league that showcases individual stars but LeBron was at least right about something, championships are won by "teams."

So, what's next for Cleveland? Where do they go from here? Hopefully upward! This is a city that loves its underdogs and roots for them with passion. This is an organization that has good leadership, money and hopefully a will to win. The future doesn't have to be dark in Cleveland, it just has to be different now. That's okay though. Miami has sold it's sole for three players and pinned it's hopes on them to deliver. Cleveland can now forge a new destiny with a group of players and a coach that have nothing left to lose and only a future of possibilities to gain.