Today's the last day the Cavs will have a chance to pick up the options on Jumaine Jones and Trajan Langdon or lose them to free agency.

Langdon's fate, however, has already been decided.

"[General Manager] Jim Paxson told me today that they're not picking up my option," said Langdon, an hour before tip-off of the Cavs' 108-89 loss to the Celtics last night. "It's not something I've worried about because I don't have any control. I enjoy it here but I'll play hard for whoever I'm with next year."

The Cavs made Langdon the 11th overall pick in the 1999 draft. He's averaged 5.8 points a game in two seasons.

The Cavs still could sign Langdon after the season, but chances of that are slim.

The future of the Cavs had trouble keeping his shorts up and his shirt tucked in.
He also forgot to tell Chris Mihm that he was supposed to leave the game, meaning the Cavs ended up with six men on the court.

Not that it mattered last night, as Boston bounced the hometown by a 108-89 count before an announced crowd of 17,748 at the Gund, which meant about 3,000 of them must have been dressed as blue seats.

His name is DeSagana Diop. He's only 19. He's from Senegal. He has been in the USA for a mere three years and after averaging a modest 15 points in high school.

He spent most of his six minutes pulling up his pants and trying to catch his breath. He took one shot -- a 15-foot jumper -- that chipped the paint off the front of the rim. He heaved that rock the first time he touched the ball, a mere four seconds after he stepped on the court.

He left the game when he grabbed the back of his left knee, which the Cavs said wasn't hurt. They can only pray that's true, because this franchise seldom gets a break that doesn't require a suite at the Cleveland Clinic and a cast.

This is John Lucas' winning formula for the Cavaliers: shoot 30 free throws, outrebound the opponent and play solid defense.

His team failed on all three last night, and Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker made the Cavs pay dearly behind their 29 and 23 points, respectively, as the Boston Celtics cruised to a 108-89 victory before an announced crowd of 17,748 in the season opener at Gund Arena.

Wes Person and Trajan Langdon led the Cavs with 13 points each, and Jumaine Jones and Ricky Davis each scored 12.

The Cavaliers open the regular season tonight. After four weeks of training camp, you'd think yesterday would have been a light day.

Hardly. Coach John Lucas had two practices, one at noon and one at 7 p.m., as the Cavs prepared to face Boston at Gund Arena.

``The home opener is exactly that,'' Lucas said. ``It's the home opener. It doesn't make or break our season. If we win it, great. If we don't, great.''

With nobody at Gund thinking about printing playoff tickets, Lucas cares more about the long-term future. That's why he added a second practice after he was displeased with the team's effort during the first.

Lucas said practice would end if the Cavs could make 150 layups during a four-minute full-court drill. After they failed four times, he ordered the players back for the night session.

``Whatever coach asks,'' center Michael Doleac said.

Chester "Bubba" Person knows the cure to whatever ailed his brother, Wesley, during the past two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And it all starts with home.

"Now Wesley has one of the big brothers there, and that'll help," said Chester, the second oldest of the four Person brothers. "Chuck is someone for him to talk to. We were all close growing up. No one knows us better."

And no one knows the Cavaliers guard better than Chuck, who retired last season after 13 NBA seasons. Chuck Person, a volunteer assistant coach with the Cavs, said his younger brother, Wesley, has something to prove after what he considers consecutive mediocre seasons.

The 2001-02 Cavaliers' season was destined for a positive change when the organization fired coach Randy Wittman and hired John Lucas during the off-season.

The organization brought in an upbeat coach with the reputation as a motivator. He was known for developing players into stars and for pulling weaker teams up to a higher level.

Trades were made during the off-season that brought back forward Tyrone Hill, an experienced veteran, that would supply the rebounding lost when Clarence Weatherspoon signed a free-agent deal with New York. The Cavs also acquired guard/forward Jumaine Jones, who made some noise during the postseason for Philadelphia.

Lucas began his tenure early - 6 a.m. - for the team's first practice. Lucas wanted to shake up the organization's previous routines and he did. He didn't always have a traditional practice. For example, his practices were heavy into conditioning, stand-up comedy wisecracks and player half-court shots for cash.

His methods were an immediate hit with the team.

If I ran the Cavs: By Terry Pluto

Nearly everybody figures the Cavaliers are long shots this season to do anything. Maybe that's why they're practicing so many halfcourt shots.

Then again, who knows what's going through the mind of unorthodox coach John Lucas?

``They're pretty normal things,'' Lucas said of the tactics that he uses in practice. ``But I'm an abnormal guy.''

Practices have seen players engage in a drill in which they hold their hands on their heads while running in place. Sometimes they jump rope. Lucas has set times for running drills that guard Trajan Langdon says ``nobody can possibly achieve.''

A staple in practice has become the halfcourt shot. Lucas says the ball-chucking contests build ``mental toughness and trusting one another.''

Lucas recently told his players they wouldn't have to run sprints if either Langdon or forward Jumaine Jones could nail a halfcourt shot. Jones became a very popular man after he hit one.

After a preseason dominated with news of injuries to starters Tyrone Hill and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Cavaliers finally have something to smile about.

Yesterday, the Cavs obtained guard Ricky Davis from Miami and forward/center Brian Skinner from Toronto in a three-team trade. The Cavs traded 6-10 forward/center Chris Gatling to Miami, and Don MacLean was traded from Miami to Toronto to complete the deal.

The NBA welcomes two new faces and two recycled ones to its coaching fraternity this season, and all four of them are sure to have headaches by Halloween.

Rick Carlisle, a head coach after years as an assistant, must convince Jerry Stackhouse to be a more complete player in Detroit.

John Lucas, who has coached Philadelphia and San Antonio, has a challenging rebuilding project in Cleveland.

Maurice Cheeks, the other newcomer, will have to instill his grace into the talented mess that resides in Portland.

Doug Collins, the fiery former coach of Chicago and Detroit, has the most intriguing and perhaps most challenging job of the four: trying to rebuild the Washington Wizards while battling the expectations that come with having the unretired Michael Jordan.