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, Danny Ferry stepped down as general manager, head coach Mike Brown was fired, James signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat, Shaquille O'Neal signed as a free agent for his final season with the Boston Celtics, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas left to play his final season with the Heat. 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 2024, this was the last time that the Cavaliers have won 60 or more games. This was also the last time that LeBron lost in the playoffs before the Finals until 2021, when the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games in the first round, which was also the first time in James' career that he exited in the first round.

Key dates

Draft picks

Roster

Pre-season

20,403 || 1-0 recap 11,489 ||2-0 recap 19,791 ||3-0 recap 19,672 || 3-1 recap 17,186 || 3-2 recap 18,525 || 3-3 recap 10,011 || 4-3 recap 18,021 || 4-4 recap

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

20,562 20,152 19,356 20,562 20,562 20,562 19,763 17,461 19,600 20,562 20,562 20,173 18,165 20,562 22,076 19,168 20,562 20,562 20,562 16,625 16,325 18,200 20,562 18,203 20,562 19,517 20,562 20,346 18,221 16,407 18,997 20,562 20,150 20,562 17,569 20,562 20,562 19,996 20,614 19,596 19,911 19,277 20,562 20,562 20,562 19,600 20,562 18,165 20,562 20,562 20,562 20,562 20,562 20,562 20,562 19,568 17,461 20,562 18,624 20,107 20,562 17,502 20,562 18,717 20,562 20,433 20,562 22,076 20,562 23,129 20,562 18,008 18,581 20,562 20,562 20,562 18,624 20,562 21,707 20,562 20,562 19,069

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Stats with the Cavaliers <SUP>1</SUP>Did not start or finish the season with the Cavs.

Playoffs

Awards, Records and Milestones

Awards

Week/Month

All-Star

Records

Team Records

Milestones

*Spent the entire NBA Career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, until reach these Milestones.

Team Milestones

Injuries, Surgeries, and Absences

Transactions

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

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.