The television networks have spoken on their expectations for the Cavaliers. Without LeBron James, they don't seem to care very much.
UPDATED: 6:49 p.m.
View full sizeThe Byron Scott era will open Oct. 27 in a home game against the Boston Celtics. The NBA released its full 2010-11 schedule on Tuesday.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With so many unanswered questions and undefined roles, what next season holds for the Cavaliers has mystery and intrigue. But the television networks have spoken on their expectations.
Without LeBron James, they don't seem to care very much.
As was expected, the Cavs were massively demoted from the national scene when the NBA's entire schedule was released on Tuesday. After averaging more than 30 national TV dates on ESPN and TNT over the last four years, the Cavs will have just two games on those networks this year. Their total national television guarantee is three games, with one game set for NBA TV.
For comparison sake, the lowly and annual bottom-dwelling Los Angeles Clippers were scheduled for 12 national television appearances based on excitement over the return of Blake Griffin from injury.
James' new team, the Miami Heat, are scheduled for 29 national TV games -- including James first game in Cleveland since leaving in free agency. As The Plain Dealer reported last week, it will be Dec. 2 at The Q.
With NBA TV's fan night voting, the Heat will likely hit the maximum number of national games at 34 as the Cavs did last season.
For the first time since 2005, the Cavs' season opener will not be on national TV as they host the Boston Celtics on Oct. 27.
The team's general schedule path follows the same routine it has for the last decade or so. The Cavs will have a heavy road schedule early in the season with 20 road games combined in December and January. Their longest trip will be five games in mid-January, when the arena is in use for Disney ice shows.
Then the schedule turns, as it did last year with a massive homestand in February. This year it will be eight games long, the longest since the 1994-95 season. Overall, the Cavs will play 19 of their last 30 games at The Q.
There are also 22 sets of back-to-backs on the schedule, up from 18 last year.
That is easy to explain, as the Cavs will only play two Thursday games all season after being largely tossed off TNT. The network has exclusive tights to Thursdays for most of the season. It will force the Cavs to play some extra Friday-Saturday back-to-backs, which actually may be appealing to some fans who would prefer to attend games on those nights.
Last season, the Cavs played on TNT on nine Thursdays and had just four Friday-Saturday back-to-backs. This year the schedule has several Friday-Saturday games, including four in the first five weeks.
In addition to Dec. 2, the Heat will visit Cleveland March 29. After opening night, the Celtics return Nov. 30. The rival Orlando Magic are in town Dec. 28 and March 21. The defending champion Lakers make their only visit on Feb. 16, the last game before the All-Star break.
Season ticket packages are on sale and multi-game ticket packages will be available starting next Tuesday. A date for single game tickets has not yet been announced, but it is usually closer to the start of the season.
McGrady works out: The Cavs recently worked out former All-Star Tracy McGrady but decided not to offer him a contract, multiple sources said. McGrady signed a one-year deal for the league minimum with the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. McGrady was slowed last season, which he split between the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks, recovering from major knee surgery.
Varejao scratched: The Brazilian National team won its Super Four Tournament, a warmup tournament for the FIBA World Championship, over the weekend in Brasilia. But Cavs big man Anderson Varejao didn't play over concerns with his back.
Varejao suffered from back spasms on and off for the last six weeks of the Cavs' season and was limited in the playoff series with the Celtics because of the injury. According to a source, Brazil held Varejao out mostly as a precaution. Brazil is scheduled to start the World Championships in Turkey in two weeks.