The 2000–01 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 31st season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season The Cavaliers received the eighth overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Jamal Crawford from the University of Michigan; however, the team soon traded Crawford to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for rookie center, and first-round draft pick Chris Mihm from the University of Texas at Austin. During the off-season, the team acquired Chris Gatling and Clarence Weatherspoon from the Miami Heat in a three-team trade, acquired Matt Harpring from the Orlando Magic, acquired Robert Traylor from the Milwaukee Bucks, and signed free agent Bimbo Coles.
Regular season With the addition of Gatling, Weatherspoon, Harpring and Mihm, the Cavaliers got off to a strong start winning nine of their first twelve games of the regular season, on their way to a solid 15–7 start to the season. In January, the team traded Brevin Knight to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for former Ohio State University star Jim Jackson. However, the Cavaliers struggled losing 23 of their next 28 games, which included a 10-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 20–27 record at the All-Star break. The Cavaliers finished in sixth place in the Central Division with a disappointing 30–52 record.
Second-year star Andre Miller averaged 15.8 points, 8.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while Lamond Murray averaged 12.8 points per game, and Weatherspoon provided the team with 11.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. In addition, Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributed 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, but only played just 24 games due to continuing foot injuries, while Gatling provided with 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, Harpring contributed 11.1 points per game, and Jackson provided with 10.3 points per game in 39 games after the trade. Meanwhile, Mihm averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, Wesley Person contributed 7.1 points per game, second-year guard Trajan Langdon contributed 6.0 points per game, Traylor averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and Coles provided with 4.9 points and 2.9 assists per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Miller was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team, while Langdon participated in the NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Eva Nemcova of the WNBA's Cleveland Rockers. The Cavaliers finished 16th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 650,775 at the Gund Arena during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Randy Wittman was fired as head coach after two seasons with the Cavaliers, while Gatling was traded back to the Miami Heat in a three-team trade, and Jackson signed as a free agent with the Heat during the following season. Meanwhile, Weatherspoon signed with the New York Knicks, and Harpring was traded along with Traylor to the Philadelphia 76ers, who then sent Traylor to the Charlotte Hornets.
Offseason
Free agents
Trades
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 8 Jamal Crawford Guard Michigan
Crawford traded on draft day to Chicago for #7 pick Chris Mihm. Chicago traded the rights to C Chris Mihm to Cleveland for the rights to G Jamal Crawford and cash. 2nd round pick (#37) traded to Denver in Greg Graham deal. Sent to Miami in Mark Strickland deal. Used to draft Eddie House.
Roster
Regular season
Standings
Game log
October Record: 1-0; Home: 0-0; Road: 1–0
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record 1 October 31, 2000 Cleveland 86-82 W New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena 14,505 1–0
November Record: 8-5; Home: 6-1; Road: 2–4
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record 2 November 1, 2000 Sacramento 102-100 W in 2OT Cleveland Gund Arena 17,695 2–0 3 November 4, 2000 Boston 91-89 W Cleveland Gund Arena 18,392 3–0 4 November 8, 2000 Cleveland 99-97 W New York Madison Square Garden 19,763 4–0 5 November 10, 2000 Cleveland 88-115 L Toronto Air Canada Centre 19,800 4–1 6 November 11, 2000 Washington 86-73 W Cleveland Gund Arena 17,336 5–1 7 November 14, 2000 Golden State 96-86 W Cleveland Gund Arena 13,691 6–1 8 November 15, 2000 Cleveland 98-107 L Philadelphia First Union Center 16,328 6–2 9 November 17, 2000 Cleveland 76-89 L Milwaukee Bradley Center 13,874 6–3 10 November 21, 2000 Detroit 117-98 W Cleveland Gund Arena 12,683 7–3 11 November 22, 2000 Cleveland 86-67 W Miami AmericanAirlines Arena 14,755 8–3 12 November 24, 2000 Miami 85-80 W Cleveland Gund Arena 20,562 9–3 13 November 25, 2000 Cleveland 98-109 L Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum 13,791 9–4 14 November 28, 2000 Boston 72-87 L Cleveland Gund Arena 14,879 9–5
December Record: 7-7; Home: 4-2; Road: 3–5
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record 15 December 1, 2000 Cleveland 93-103 L Detroit The Palace of Auburn Hills 15,323 9–6 16 December 2, 2000 Philadelphia 78-112 L Cleveland Gund Arena 20,562 9–7 17 December 5, 2000 Charlotte 71-66 W Cleveland Gund Arena 14,544 10–7 18 December 6, 2000 Cleveland 92-88 W Chicago United Center 21,395 11–7 19 December 9, 2000 Atlanta 97-90 W Cleveland Gund Arena 15,766 12–7 20 December 12, 2000 Dallas 92-87 W Cleveland Gund Arena 12,577 13–7 21 December 15, 2000 Cleveland 103-95 W Indiana Conseco Fieldhouse 16,966 14–7 22 December 16, 2000 Utah 99-92 W Cleveland Gund Arena 18,571 15–7 23 December 20, 2000 Cleveland 77-94 L San Antonio Alamodome 17,336 15–8 24 December 22, 2000 Cleveland 95-103 L Miami AmericanAirlines Arena 15,854 15–9 25 December 23, 2000 Cleveland 92-111 L Orlando TD Waterhouse Centre 14,160 15–10 26 December 26, 2000 Cleveland 110-115 L in OT Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum 14,442 15–11 27 December 28, 2000 Milwaukee 89-107 L Cleveland Gund Arena 18,225 15–12 28 December 29, 2000 Cleveland 97-85 W Atlanta Philips Arena 11,680 16–12
January Record: 4-11; Home: 3-4; Road: 1–7
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record 29 January 2, 2001 Houston 95-100 L Cleveland Gund Arena 14,032 16–13 30 January 3, 2001 Cleveland 83-88 L Milwaukee Bradley Center 13,817 16–14 31 January 6, 2001 Philadelphia 103-107 L Cleveland Gund Arena 20,562 16–15 32 January 8, 2001 New Jersey 92-90 W Cleveland Gund Arena 12,332 17–15 33 January 10, 2001 Cleveland 103-108 L Sacramento ARCO Arena 17,317 17–16 34 January 12, 2001 Cleveland 98-101 L L.A. Lakers STAPLES Center 18,997 17-17 35 January 13, 2001 Cleveland 107-119 L Vancouver General Motors Place 12,540 17–18 36 January 15, 2001 Cleveland 107-101 W Golden State The Arena in Oakland 15,289 18-18 37 January 16, 2001 Cleveland 83-103 L Portland Rose Garden Arena 19,980 18–19 38 January 19, 2001 Cleveland 88-91 L Denver Pepsi Center 17,058 18–20 39 January 22, 2001 Portland 84-58 W Cleveland Gund Arena 16,388 19–20 40 January 24, 2001 Chicago 94-86 W Cleveland Gund Arena 15,503 20-20 41 January 27, 2001 Atlanta 90-101 L Cleveland Gund Arena 20,562 20–21 42 January 29, 2001 Cleveland 89-95 L Washington MCI Center 12,721 20–22 43 January 30, 2001 L.A. Lakers 96-102 L Cleveland Gund Arena 20,053 20–23
February Record: 2–10; Home: 1–6; Road: 1–4
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record 44 February 1, 2001 Minnesota 81-90 L Cleveland Gund Arena 13,904 20–24 45 February 3, 2001 Detroit 81-88 L in OT Cleveland Gund Arena 19,635 20–25 46 February 4, 2001 Cleveland 82-103 L Boston FleetCenter 14,638 20–26 47 February 7, 2001 San Antonio 89-107 L Cleveland Gund Arena 13,324 20–27
March Record:; Home:; Road:
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record
April Record:; Home:; Road:
# Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record
Player stats
Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGAndre Miller828234.745.226.683.34.48.01.50.315.8Lamond Murray784628.542.337.073.54.41.61.10.312.8Zydrunas Ilgauskas242425.748.70.067.96.70.80.61.511.7Chris Gatling74622.644.930.468.45.30.80.70.411.4Clarence Weatherspoon828233.850.10.079.09.71.31.01.311.3Matt Harpring565528.845.425.081.24.31.80.80.311.1Jim Jackson392629.239.023.878.63.72.90.90.210.3Chris Mihm594319.844.20.079.44.70.30.30.97.6Wesley Person442221.843.840.580.03.01.50.60.37.1Trajan Langdon65517.243.141.189.51.41.20.60.16.0Robert Traylor70717.349.70.056.74.30.90.71.15.7Bimbo Coles47017.138.112.585.71.02.90.60.14.9Cedric Henderson551017.538.912.565.21.61.40.50.44.3Chucky Brown20213.341.30.066.71.80.30.30.33.9Anthony Johnson2808.333.350.068.80.81.60.20.02.4J.R. Reid606.540.00.075.01.30.20.30.21.7Brevin Knight6015.513.30.083.31.24.21.00.21.5Etdrick Bohannon603.250.00.0100.01.20.00.00.31.3Michael Hawkins1007.633.350.00.00.51.30.20.00.8Larry Robinson101.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Player statistics citation:
Awards and records
Awards
Records
Milestones
All-Star
Transactions
Trades
Free agents
Development League
References
Cleveland Cavaliers on Basketball Reference