LeBron's prolific regular season continued right through the playoffs. D. Lippett/Einstein NBAE/Getty Images

But the Wine and Gold can go into this off-season with a sense of pride that no Cavalier club has felt in the last 13 years of the franchise. They were a defensive rebound and one quarter away from making history; pulling off one of the greatest playoff upsets in recent memory.

Of course, that all came apart on Sunday afternoon, when the Pistons used a late 10-2 run and some of the toughest postseason defense in league history to knock the valiant Cavaliers out of the NBA’s second season. On Monday afternoon, the players cleaned out their lockers and headed for home and/or a tropical locale – after their memorable 57-win season and improbable playoff run.

And as much as everyone hates to hear the two dirtiest words in the Cleveland sports lexicon – “next year” – the fact is that next year arguably the best player in the NBA, LeBron James, will turn the ripe old age of 22.

“The goal is to win a championship, simple as that,” said James. “Of course I want to stay. This season has put me in a great state of mind for being with this organization for a long time as well as the great teammates that I have and the coaching staff that I really enjoy being around.”

LeBron’s first postseason experience was supposed to be an education for the third-year pro, but instead the Rubber City Royalty educated his first two opponents. Detroit shut him down in stretches – namely the second half of Sunday’s Game 7, but James still averaged over 26 ppg against them. And he was good for more than 30 ppg (30.8) throughout the postseason.

The Cavaliers downfall in the postseason was that James didn’t get the help he needed. A good game by Donyell Marshall here and a nice outing by Zydrunas Ilgauskas there do not a championship team make. And more often than not, LeBron was a one-man gang. Larry Hughes was 19 points behind LBJ – averaging 11.1 per contest, and Z was the only other Cavalier in double-figures at 10.4.

“This is the best team that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Ilgauskas. “Not just the record, but the way guys stuck together. It’s been a long time since this city was proud of its basketball team and I think we gave them a lot of hope going into next year.”

The Cavaliers still have some holes to fill. But the organization has to feel good about the mixture of youth – LeBron, Anderson Varejao, Larry Hughes – and veterans – Ilgauskas, Eric Snow and Donyell Marshall.

“The good thing about this team is that the core group is young. But you also have veterans like myself, E-Snow and Z. We’ll need to keep bringing pieces in to help LeBron. We don’t want to be one of those teams that was only there one year. We want to continue this thing for years to come. We want to be known as a good team year-in and year-out.

Management also has some decisions to make – one on a starter (Drew Gooden) and one on a reserve that may have salvaged their season (Flip Murray). Gooden showed signs of brilliance at times, but he often had trouble staying on the floor in the second half of games. Murray bailed the Cavaliers out at the trade deadline when Larry Hughes was forced to have a second finger surgery in February.

“I want to be a Cavalier,” said Gooden. “The most important thing is winning. And that’s going to be the biggest factor for me this summer, when free agency and everything comes down. I’m already on a winner with the Cavaliers, so why is there a need to change?”

Anderson Varejao figures to be a big factor in next year's plans. David Sherman NBAE/Getty Images

“I had a great time here,” opined the soft-spoken shooting guard. “The whole team and organization accepted me as one of their own and I fit right in with the club. I had a great time, we did some great things and I’m looking forward to coming back next year.”

Gooden’s postseason was not that much different from his regular season. He had outings like Game 2 against Washington where he went 11-for-12 from the floor for 24 points and had showings like Game 7 against Detroit in which he went 0-for-4 for just two points.

Murray had a rough postseason altogether. He went 12-for-55 against the Pistons and 37-for-112 overall in the playoffs.

“I though Drew did a great job for us throughout the year, and was a big reason we won 50 games,” said Danny Ferry in a postseason press conference held at The Q. “He’s a talented 6-10 power forward and obviously, we’re interested in keeping him in a Cavaliers uniform.

“Flip’s contribution was huge for us down the stretch. He was better and had more of an impact than, I have to admit, I would have thought. He helped us win basketball games when we really needed to grind out those basketball games. We’re interested in exploring options of having him back as well.”

The Cavaliers will have some decisions to make in the off-season, the biggest – and easiest – will be inking LeBron James to an extension on July 1. Everything else falls from there.

“I think I’ve reached a point where every part of my game needs tuning up,” said the young King. “I think I’ve reached a point where I don’t need to add any parts to my game. I just have to tune everything up and become more complete in every aspect – both offensively and defensively – and I think that’ll help our team a lot.”

The Cavaliers were one quarter away from destiny. The experience from the season – and the postseason – has been invaluable. Some off-season improvements and maneuvering by the front office and Mike Brown with a year under his belt can only help. And there’s LeBron, who has taken huge leaps from one year to the next. It’s scary to think of what he might be like if the trend continues. (Especially for his 2006-07 opponents.)

Cleveland hasn’t had a champion in any sport since 1964. “Next year” is a dirty word on the North Coast. “This year” is not.