Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton reacts in-game. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
When LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010 to join the Miami Heat, formally via sign-and-trade, it sent the Cavaliers into a tailspin. Granted that tailspin resulted in the Cavs selecting Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, but, they weren’t able to do anything until LeBron came back in 2014-15.
Before the 2018-19 season, James left Cleveland again to head to the Los Angeles Lakers, and it has sent the Cavaliers into a tailspin once again. They finished the 2018-19 season with a putrid record of 19-63 which was “good enough” for 14th place in the Eastern Conference.