Cleveland Cavaliers first started play in the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team. Under the lead of coach Bill Fitch, Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team compiled a league-worst 15-67 record. However, Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team started to build around the 1971 draft pick, Austin Carr.

In the 1975-1976 NBA seasons, with Carr, Bingo Smith, Jim Chones, and Dick Snyder, Fitch led Cleveland Cavs, as the team is frequently nicknamed, to a dramatic 49-33 record, which was the best record in the Central basketball Division. Fitch got the league's Coach of the Year award as the Cavs made their first-ever NBA playoff appearance.

Cleveland Cavaliers won the series against the Washington Bullets, 4-3. Because of the many heroics and last-second shots, the series turned out to be well known as the "Miracle of Richfield." However, hampered by injuries, Cleveland Cavaliers continued to lose to the Boston Celtics in round two of the NBA basketball playoffs.

In the 1980s, new owner Ted Stepien rapidly hired and fired a series of basketball coaches and even threatened to move the franchise to Toronto . However, brothers George Gund and Gordon Gund bought the franchise in the mid 1980s and decided to keep the NBA team in Cleveland .

In 1986, under the Gund brothers as owners, Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team acquired, either through trades or the draft, Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Ron Harper, and Larry Nance. These basketball players shaped the core of the team that led Cleveland Cavaliers to eight NBA playoff seasons in the next nine years, including three 50-wins plus seasons. The peak of the Cavs' dominance came in the 1991-1992 basketball season, when they compiled a 57-25 record and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, losing to the Chicago Bulls 4-2.

However, after Cleveland Cavaliers glory days came numerous losing seasons. Those NBA seasons saw Cleveland ’s drop to the bottom of the league, becoming a perennial lottery draft team. After another disappointing season in 2002-2003, Cleveland Cavaliers landed the number one draft pick in the NBA basketball Lottery. Cleveland Cavaliers selected high school phenom Lebron James. James' status as both a local star and one of the most extremely touted prospects in NBA basketball history led many to view his selection as a turning point in the franchise's history. The 2003-2004 seasons provided a great hope for the future, as James rose to be a dominating basketball player, winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Hope was even greater for the 2004-2005 seasons. James blossomed into a superstar, increasing his points average, shooting percentage, assists average, and rebounds average. In spite of the loss of Carlos Boozer, James teamed with Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to shape the core of Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball team. After a promising start when the basketball team seemed to be locked firmly into the Eastern Conference's 5th playoff spot, Cleveland Cavaliers started a downward spiral that eventually led to the firing of coach Paul Silas and general manager Jim Paxson. Cleveland Cavaliers failed to make the NBA playoffs that year, tied with the resurgent New Jersey Nets for the eighth (and final) playoff spot (the Nets owned the tiebreaker over the Cleveland Cavaliers).

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Cavaliers sign forward Darnell Jackson (AP) The Cleveland Cavaliers signed forward Darnell Jackson on Saturday. The Cavaliers acquired the rights to Jackson, 22, from Miami during this year's NBA draft in exchange for one of Cleveland's two second round picks in 2009. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward averaged 11.2 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds in 40 games during his senior year at Kansas.

Cavaliers sign F Jackson (PA SportsTicker) The Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday signed forward Darnell Jackson, whose rights were acquired from the Miami Heat during this year's draft.

Cavaliers sign C Wright (PA SportsTicker) The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday signed veteran center Lorenzen Wright.

Cavaliers sign F/C Lorenzen Wright (AP) The Cavaliers signed center Lorenzen Wright on Friday to help offset the loss up front of forward Joe Smith. Cleveland has been looking for some frontcourt size since Smith was traded as part of the three-team deal with Memphis and Milwaukee that brought guard Mo Williams to Cleveland. The 6-foot-11, 255-pound Wright played 12 games for Atlanta and five for Sacramento last season, averaging less...