1 Cavaliers Mistake that Doomed the LeBron James Era in Cleveland

The LeBron James era didn't play out the way the Cleveland Cavaliers had hoped, at least not the first time around. He and the team redeemed themselves in 2016 after his brief stint with the Miami Heat, but the pain from never winning it all before he left and before the infamous "Decision" was never fully erased.

A common misconception around James's tenure with the Cavs was that Cleveland never made moves to put talent around him. While they never built a roster capable of taking home the Larry O'Brien, it wasn't for a lack of trying. The team was incredibly active in pursuit of a title team built around LeBron. Unfortunately, most of the moves they made turned out severely disappointing, such as trading for Antawn Jamison and signing Shaquille O'Neal.

One of the main reasons that James and the Cavaliers couldn't grow into the team they hoped to become was that they didn't have any young talent to develop next to him. Cleveland actually had a promising forward whom they drafted the year before James arrived, but he didn't stick around long.

Cavaliers losing Carlos Boozer ruined their title chances in LeBron James's first stint

In 2002, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Carlos Boozer out of Duke with the 35th-overall pick in the draft. He put together a decent first season, averaging 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds on 54 percent shooting for a 17-win team, finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.

The following summer, Cleveland was awarded the first-overall pick and spent it on legendary high school prospect LeBron James. He'd go on to win Rookie of the Year, while Boozer took a leap in his development, jumping to 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds, forming a dynamic young duo with James, as the two helped lead the Cavaliers to 35 wins.

Unfortunately, that proved to be Boozer's last season in Cleveland. The Cavs had a team option to keep him for the 2004-05 campaign, but declined it, intending to sign him to a long-term contract instead.

They reportedly offered him a six-year deal worth around $40 million, but he chose to ink a $70 million agreement with the Utah Jazz. The belief was that he snubbed Cleveland, going back on his promise for more money. The Cavs had the opportunity to match his contract with Utah, as he was a restricted free agent, but would've had to shed a significant amount of salary to create the cap space necessary under the league's rules back then.

In an appearance on The Dan LeBatard Show, Carlos Boozer stated that he couldn't take the deal from Cleveland:

"The league knows everything. So when they took away my third-year option, they were going to offer me a deal around $40 million. But the league was also getting indication that there was four other teams that were offering me 70 [million] plus. So if I would have re-signed, they would have immediately known it was tampering."

According to Boozer, had he signed with the Cavs, the league would have levied severe punishments against the team. In Utah, he garnered All-Star appearances, MVP votes, and an All-NBA Third Team nod, averaging 19.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 54 percent shooting across six seasons.

Had the Cavaliers simply picked up his team option, things could have gone a lot differently in Cleveland. Perhaps he and LeBron James would've even led them to a title, and the latter would've spent his entire career with the team that drafted him.