1970/71: The Cavaliers started their first season with many factors working against them. The team Coached by Bill Fitch was made up of rejects from other teams that made other expansion teams look good. Making matters worse the Cavs had to play their first 7 games on the road as the Cleveland Arena had been booked by the Ice Capades. The Cavaliers dropped all 7 games by an average of 17.3 points per game, including their debut a 107-92 loss to their expansion partner Buffalo Braves on October 14th. When the Cavs made their home debut on October 28th against the San Diego Rockets the losses continued, as they ended up losing their first 15 games before beating the Trailblazers in Portland 105-103 on November 12th. The Cavaliers would go on to finish in dead last with an awful record of 15-67.
1971/72: With the top pick in the NBA draft the Cavaliers would select Notre Dame Star Austin Carr who averaged 34.5 points during his college career. The Cavs would show signs early as they post a 15-24 record in their first 39 games as they sat just 1 game out of first place. However, they would lose 11 straight in January on the way to finishing in last place again with a 23-59 record.
1972/73: To help turn the team's fortunes around the Cavaliers would trade Butch Beard to the Seattle Supersonics for Lenny Wilkens. However, the Cavs would get off to bumpy start losing their first 7 games as Wilkens sat out due to an injury. The Cavaliers would go on to finish last place in the Central Division again, but they played competitive basketball at times posting a 6-game winning streak in March on the way to finishing with a 32-50 record.   
1973/74: Looking to add some toughness the Cavaliers sent John Johnson and Rick Roberson to the Portland Trailblazer for the opportunity to draft University of Minnesota forward Jim Brewer. However, Brewer had a disappointing year averaging just 6.1 ppg as the Cavs finished in last place again with a woeful 29-53 record.