Looking Ahead at the Cavs’ 2012 Season The Cleveland Cavaliers were unquestionably in a terrible place at the beginning of last season. Trapped between the egos of their departing superstar and a slightly unhinged owner looking to stick it to said superstar as well as the league at large, the franchise started the campaign with hallucinatory thoughts that it would be able to compete with a roster of overpaid veterans and a wafer-thin bench. Dreams of an eighth playoff seed and rude first-round ouster were quickly and thankfully snuffed by the harsh realities of a 26-game losing streak. A year of basketball purgatory was saved by the trade that sent underachieving point guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Baron Davis and a first-round pick in the 2011 draft. Thanks to a rare moment of beneficence from the Cleveland-mocking sports gods, that selection gave the Cavs the number-one pick in last summer’s draft. A weak draft, said parade-raining observers, but one still good enough to nab Duke’s Kyrie Irving, a classic point guard with an NBA-ready skill set in terms of athleticism, passing, dribbling and the rare ability to take over a game. Now, after what was essentially a lost year, the true rebuilding of this club can begin. That’s not to say the Cavs are going to surprise anyone in 2012. On the contrary, this is a team that would be hard-pressed to win 25 games in a full-length season. This year’s lockout-shortened campaign (from 82 games to 66) will probably find the Cavs putting between 15 and 20 contests on the left side of the win-loss column. From a pure basketball standpoint, at least, the Cavs are going to be putrid. The release of Davis via the newly enacted “amnesty clause” means the team has a chance to eclipse the 1998-99 post-Jordan Bulls in lowest points scored per game (81.9). The 19-year-old rookie point guard is going to have to take 20 shots a night, with aging forward Antawn Jamison taking up the scoring slack until the Cavs can hopefully dump his expiring contract on some desperate team. Anderson Vareajo will be the starting center, and he is known more for his bounding defensive presence than any offensive skills. Israeli Omri Casspi, projected as the Cavs’ starting small forward, was brought in for his hustle and an ability to knock down three-pointers from the corners, but he is more suited as a sixth man than a go-to shooter. Anthony Parker is nothing more than a jump-shooting roster-filler at this point, and he’s the starting two-guard. Then there’s lanky rookie forward Tristan Thompson, the franchise’s other first-round pick, tabbed as a raw, athletic tweener whose impact will likely come at the defensive end. Bad record aside, watching Irving and Thompson learn on the job should be interesting. Just as critically, the Cavs sans Jamison’s contract will have cap space going into next year, along with another high lottery pick in what is projected to be a talent-rich draft. Still, optimistic fans need to realize that it’s going to be a hard road ahead. With an NBA landscape where superstar players collaborate in glamour cities, the Cavs will need to be both shrewd and blessed in the same vein as middle-market contemporary Oklahoma City. The Thunder managed to keep its big-ticket Kevin Durant while also surrounding him with top-notch complimentary pieces, something that our old buddy LeBron, hate him or not, never really had in Cleveland. Nailing draft picks and acquiring solid veterans through trade will be the Cavs’ template for success. As Cleveland fans, we need to keep our heads down this year while the Lakers, Heat, Mavericks, Bulls, Celtics, Knicks, Thunder and possibly the Clippers grab the wins and the headlines. Just have fun and don’t look at our record if you can help it. While reality tells us that the Cavaliers are gazing up from the bottom of a deep well where serious playoff contention is concerned, this franchise is finally out from under the poisonous shadow of That Guy in Miami and his ill-conceived Decision. The Cavs’ situation heading into a new era is not ideal, but it’s a start. Photo: Bryan Horowitz