2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season
The 2009–10 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 40th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 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 the MVP Award for the second straight year. The Cavaliers had the fifth best team offensive rating in the NBA. After defeating the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls in the first round in five games, the Cavs faced the 4th-seeded Boston Celtics in the Semifinals in a rematch of the 2008 Conference  Semifinals where the Celtics won in seven games. The Cavaliers were favored to beat them, but lost in six games despite being up 2-1. The Celtics would advance to the NBA Finals and lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. 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 one season with the Miami Heat before retiring. 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, who drafted All-Star Kyrie Irving and traded for All-Star Kevin Love. As of 2020, this was the last time that the Cavaliers have won 60 or more games. Transactions. 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 Ilgauskas for the remainder of the season after his contract was bought out by the Wizards. The Cavaliers also waived Darnell Jackson to make room on the roster.