Frustration piling up for Cavs with 'Big Z' departure

So is Zydrunas Ilgauskas the latest Cleveland coward? Will Cavs owner Dan Gilbert be labeling him a narcissist?

That is the way the game works these days, isn't it?

If they won't join you, beat 'em.

Surely, we know that sometime over their past seven winters together Ilgauskas and his on-the-lam buddy sat around the locker room on a few cold Ohio nights and talked about taking their talents and mixing them like a couple of mojitos on South Beach.

The Big Z does Miami. That's a reality show in waiting.

It's enough to make a grown owner cry or pick up his pen and scribble out another angry letter like the one targeted at LeBron James that, for sheer dramatic effect, was only missing a flaming arrow as a method of delivery.

Gilbert's actions, as NBA commissioner David Stern offered, "though understandable, were ill advised and imprudent."

Not to mention childish and transparent. For never was there a peep of protest when Gilbert and his statewide minions were all on their knees groveling, making cartoons and even singing during the embarrassing love-us-love-us-love-us recruiting process.

That is not to suggest that James didn't open himself to well-deserved derision for his ill-conceived and poorly-executed prime time telecast that could only have been more unwatchable if it had included Roseanne Barr scratching herself while screeching the national anthem.

Yes, the Akron native had every right to leave Ohio. But for a guy with the words "loyalty" and "family" tattooed on his torso, he could have spared Cleveland the public humiliation of a slap in the face on live TV.

But while the so-called King was reaching new heights of self-indulgence, Gilbert's reaction was merely wallowing in the mud pit of populism, which is all the rage these days. In fact, it was only mildly surprising that TV crews never captured footage of Gilbert adding his No. 23 jersey to the bonfires in the streets or climbing the scaffolding with a putty knife in his hand to personally to cut down some of those huge "We Are All Witnesses" banners that festooned downtown Cleveland.

Depending on whether you wear an overcoat or suntan oil in February will likely influence your point of view on the subject throughout the upcoming season and beyond. But the mere fact that several players, All-Stars even, discussed the possibility of one day being teammates is no more collusion or improper than any other group of friends dreaming or planning to find a way to work together for the same company.

In Gilbert's mind, his reaction was likely cathartic and maybe even worth the $100,000 fine that was levied by Stern.

But what about that written promise to the fans of Cleveland that the Cavs would win a championship before LeBron? What about all of the enabling the Gilbert did to allow James' ego to grow larger than Lake Erie? What about when Gilbert himself was willing to push at the envelope of the rulebook when it came time to improve his own team's chances?

If we are to believe it was not simply a case of huffing and puffing, how exactly is Gilbert going to do an instant makeover of his team to make them a championship contender? What is currently left of the Cavs' roster, with Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams as the top scorers, would be hard-pressed to make the playoffs, let alone vie for a championship. There is not another teen-aged phenom the likes of James on the horizon, even if the Cavs could be guaranteed of beating the longshot odds of winning the Draft Lottery to get the No. 1 pick again. Which leaves, of course, free agency, where Gilbert would not only have to do a miraculous job of selling Cleveland as a destination for a superstar, but would also mean he steals away the headliner of another team. Pain and anguish, it seems, are one-way streets.

Wasn't it Gilbert who from the top down in the organization virtually gave James free run of the franchise, allowed him to entrench his own buddies onto the scene and reacted to every back-scratching want and desire of the King in order to keep him content? Coach Mike Brown and general manager Danny Ferry were even sacrificed in that regard and yet it didn't stop James from walking out the door.

What of Ilgauskas? After 11½ years of toiling and overcoming injury, didn't Gilbert and the Cavs use him as a LeBron pawn last February. They shipped him out to Washington in a salary-dump deal ahead of the trade deadline to please James by adding Jamison to the roster, then waited for the Wizards to cut him before signing him back -- wink, wink -- for less money. As someone who is hinting and complaining at collusion, L'Affaire LeBron, didn't Gilbert toe the line of legality and use Ilgauskas to circumvent the salary cap?

So now, how do you suppose Big Z does South Beach sits with Gilbert?

Pass the mojitos while we wait for the letter.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

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