With James ready to ascend to superstardom and young Carlos Boozer joining him at forward, the Cavaliers entered this summer looking like a lock for the playoffs at worst. Then, however, the team blundered, choosing not to exercise the team option on Boozer's contract to sign him to a longer deal. The move left Cleveland open to having another team outbid them for Boozer with no recourse. That's exactly what happened; Boozer took the money and ran to Utah and the Cavaliers looked sunk. Give Cleveland GM Jim Paxson credit for reacting quickly and decisively. Paxson acquired veteran Eric Snow (a one-time Sonics second-round pick) from Philadelphia and pulled off a heist when he got Drew Gooden and rookie Anderson Varejao from Orlando for veteran Tony Battie and change to replace Boozer.

Coming off of an underwhelming 2003-04 season in Orlando, Gooden has developed into the high-percentage scorer and quality rebounder he projected to become when he was the fourth pick of the 2002 Draft while also giving the Cavaliers a defensive improvement over Boozer. Combined with James becoming arguably the best perimeter player in the NBA at the tender age of 20 and veterans McInnis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas providing steady play, Cleveland has gone from a playoff contender to the leader of the Central Division and a legitimate threat for the Eastern Conference title. The Cavaliers will be tested, however, during a six-game West Coast trip they started by losing to the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers on Thursday on national TV.

Playing without All-Star candidate Rashard Lewis, who has been bothered by patella tendinitis in his left knee, the Seattle SuperSonics still dominated the second half in a 103-84 win over the Golden State Warriors Friday night at KeyArena that was their most lopsided since early November. The stated goal in sitting Lewis down was to get him ready for this game, when the Sonics will clearly need his production against the Cavaliers. If Lewis can't go, however, the Sonics demonstrated on Friday they have enough depth to still pull out a win, but they can't overcome any lack of focus and must play a complete game.

G U A R D S
	After searching for his role in Portland, McInnis has emerged as the perfect complement to James in the backcourt in Cleveland. McInnis isn't a great set-up point guard, but James handles the ball heavily in the halfcourt anyway and McInnis is a reliable ballhandler (2.79 assist-turnover ratio). Given how many double-teams James draws, shooting the ball is a must, and McInnis is at a career-high 40.7% from three-point range this season. He's also been good defensively. Sonics point guard Luke Ridnour was very solid in Friday's win, scoring nine points on six shot attempts and handing out six assists against just one turnover.
	Keep in mind that when Bryant was in his second season, he was still coming off the bench. Tracy McGrady was playing a secondary role to Vince Carter in Toronto. James is simply The Man in Cleveland. He's dramatically improved his shooting this season, going from shooting 41.7% to 49.2%. His 7.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game (sixth in the NBA) are making the talk of averaging a double-double not that silly and James is adding a cool 24.6 points per (also sixth). While nobody talks about James' defense, he's also third in the league in steals (2.4spg) and averaging nearly a block. This guy is the complete package and he's got a lot of room to grow. When he starts hitting threes (32-93, 34.4%), James will be indefensible. Sonics guard Ray Allen will do his best to try to keep up with James on the other end of the court. At 24.0 points per game, Allen is right behind James in the NBA's scoring race.
F O R W A R D S
	While the Cavaliers are improved at both ends of the court this season, they really dominate on defense, where they are fourth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions. While most of that credit has to go to Silas, given the poor defensive reputations of many of his players, Ira Newble also keys the D with his stopper ability on the wings. Newble has helped the Cavs limit opposing shooting guards to an effective field-goal percentage of just 45.3% (league average is 47.8%, and likely higher for two guards). At 6-8, Newble can use his size to smother players like Allen, and he'll have that matchup when he's in the game. Newble isn't an offensive threat, but he shoots well enough (46.0% from the field) to stay on the court. In Lewis' absence, Antonio Daniels got the start Friday, but that was against a team that went 6-0, 6-1 in the backcourt. With 6-8 James at two-guard in this game, Nate McMillan may have to adjust.
	Getting dealt twice by the start of his third season raised serious red flags about Gooden's game but he's answered those questions this season. Gooden grabbed 14.0% of rebounds last year in Orlando, but is at 19.0% this year, ranking him seventh in the NBA (but only third in this game; Reggie Evans leads the league at 22.4% and Danny Fortson is third at 21.2%). Gooden's defense was abysmal with the Magic, but Silas has gotten him to buy in to the system and play hard on that side of the ball. While Evans had nine rebounds Friday, he struggled at times defensively against Troy Murphy, and he'll have to be more active against Gooden.
C E N T E R
	Ilgauskas is far and away the most-tenured Cavaliers player, having been drafted in 1996. The next-longest stint of anyone on the roster is backup center DeSagana Diop, who was picked in 2001. The 7-3 Ilgauskas is a presence at both ends of the court. Just a 44.9% shooter, Ilgauskas is still valuable on offense because he gets to the free-throw line regularly and shoots 82.4% from the line. Ilgauskas is a good rebounder who is in the NBA's top ten with 1.8 blocks per game. With a recent run of blocks, Jerome James is now second in the league with 4.2 blocks per 48 minutes. Only Phoenix's Steven Hunter has been a more proficient fly-swatter on a per-minute basis.
B E N C H
	The Cleveland bench has been a weak spot this season. The Cavaliers have only been better with one of their reserves (Varejao) on the court than when he's off it. Snow (right) has gotten more attention this season for a blow-up with Silas than with his play; he remains a heady ballhandler, but is no longer the defensive stopper he once was. Lucious Harris is the Cavaliers designated shooter, but he's hitting just 29.4% of his threes. Varejao has forced his way into a bigger role with 56.7% shooting and good rebounding. That's taken minutes away from veteran Robert Traylor, who is shooting a career-low 39.9%. The Sonics bench was as good as ever against Golden State, outscoring the Warriors reserves 47-9. Danny Fortson (right) had his sixth double-double, while Ronald "Flip" Murray scored a season-high 17 points. Vladimir Radmanovic was also in double-figures, while rookie Nick Collison was active, earning himself the opportunity to start the second half.

TEAM LEADERS ALLEN JAMES Allen 24.0 PPG James 24.6 Evans 8.5 RPG Gooden 9.7 Ridnour 6.3 APG James 7.1 Ridnour 1.3 SPG James 2.4 James 1.3 BPG Ilgauskas 1.8 Allen 40.3 MPG James 40.9