The fine folks over at CelticsBlog put together a project every year that provides a comprehensive NBA preview from across the NBA blogosphere. And every year, we oblige.

There’s no doubt that the 2009-10 season will probably be the most anticipated season in the history of the franchise. It’s a contract year for LeBron, who means so much more to the Cleveland community than just being a basketball player. Shaquille O’Neal has arrived, and he could arguably be the most popular player to ever put on a Cavs jersey — maybe more so than LeBron himself.

And you can feel that do-or-die urgency permeating throughout the organization no matter where you go.

So without further ado, here’s a look at what’s on tap in this most critical of NBA seasons.

Last year’s record: 66-16, first in Central Division. Lost to Orlando, 4-2, in Eastern Conference Finals

Key additions: C Shaquille O’Neal (trade, Phoenix), G Anthony Parker (unrestricted free agency, Toronto), F Jamario Moon (restricted free agency, Miami), G Danny Green (2nd round draft pick, North Carolina), F Leon Powe (unrestricted free agency, Boston)

Key losses: Joe Smith (unrestricted free agency, Atlanta), Ben Wallace (trade, Phoenix), Wally Szczerbiak (unrestricted free agency), Sasha Pavlovic (trade, Phoenix), Tarence Kinsey (cut)

1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?

It isn’t often that a team that just won 66 games and made the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago improves dramatically, but the Cavs and GM Danny Ferry did just that. Ferry continued his theme of adding one major piece of the puzzle every offseason, and once again by playing the game of asset management.

Just a year ago, Ferry dumped Damon Jones and Joe Smith on Milwaukee for Mo Williams, a guy who had the highest points-per-game total of any non-LeBron Cavalier since LeBron joined the team in 2003. It essentially became just Jones for Williams straight up since Smith re-joined the squad for the stretch run. But this summer, Ferry did more of the same, dumping the expiring and non-guaranteed contracts of Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace on the Phoenix Suns for Shaquille O’Neal.

Sure, this isn’t the 2000 Shaq who won the regular season and Finals MVP and was at the peak of his powers. But it’s a Shaq who was still an All-Star last year by playing in 75 out of 82 games and averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 boards a game. This is also a Shaq who fills a critical need for the Cavs after the team was abused by Orlando’s Dwight Howard last May. If last year is an indicator, Shaq is showing no signs of slowing down from being a very serviceable player.

The Cavs were also torched by teams with long wing players on the perimeter, and the Orlando series only magnified that problem. No more. Some think that the Cavs have turned length on the perimeter from a problem into a strength by snagging free agents Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon.

It also gives the team incredible depth, something that they lacked in the lackluster breakdown against the Magic last spring. This is a team that will now bring Parker, Moon, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, former playoff hero Daniel Gibson, and ‘08 first-round pick J.J. Hickson off the bench.

If Hickson can live up to the hype (more on that later, for sure), this team is legitimately 10-deep. That’s a far cry from being forced to play a washed-up Szczerbiak and overrated Pavlovic in critical playoff games.

To summarize the Cavs’ preseason, they added size up front as well as size, length, and athleticism on the perimeter. There aren’t many — if any — glaring holes left on this roster. At least on paper.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

We get asked this question every year, and every year the very first thing that we mention is rebounding.

• For every year that Mike Brown has been head coach (four seasons), the Cavs have always been one of the best rebounding teams in the league. In fact, they have been in the top five every year under Brown. Adding a bulldozer like Shaq to the mix, giving energizer Anderson Varejao the starting power forward job, and adding an athletic wing like Jamario Moon is only going to make that category even more dominant in the Cavs’ favor.

• A championship-level defensive culture and intensity. This has been the team’s staple since owner Dan Gilbert hired Brown, a defensive mastermind as an assistant coach with Indiana before taking the Cavs job. But last year was their most dominant defensive effort yet under Brown. They were tops in the league in opponents’ points-per-game at 91.4 and tied with Boston for best in the league in opponents’ field goal percentage at 43.1. They were also the best team in the NBA in defending the 3-point line as opponents shot 33.3 percent against them.

• Depth — more so this year than before. The Cavs replaced two duds in Szczerbiak and Pavlovic with Parker and Moon. Parker has been known to get the job done whenever he has a modest role, which is what he’ll have this year with the Cavs. Moon is an athletic freak who can step back and hit the trey, defend on the wing, and finish strong on alley-oops and around the basket. And both of these guys will be filling these roles at a fraction of the price that Wally and Sasha were getting paid to do the same.

• Oh, and the MVP. Everything this organization has done for the last six years, will do this year, and hopefully do for many, many more years to come all begins and ends with King James. At age 24 (25 in December), he could be the most dominant player in basketball as Kobe Bryant enters his 30s. An athletic freak, this is a point guard in a power forward’s body, a cross between Isiah Thomas and Karl Malone. Absolutely unguardable. Despite the loss to Orlando last May, James had one of the most remarkable individual performances in postseason history. Hopefully for him, the Cavs have the necessary parts around him this year.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

• No doubt, the first thing that comes to mind is the power forward position. Anderson Varejao is at his best in a sixth or seventh man role, not as a starter. J.J. Hickson is still learning, Darnell Jackson is limited in his abilities, and Leon Powe is injured. The Cavs lack necessary depth and skill at this position. This is definitely the next position that needs to be addressed by Ferry and the front office.

• A young star sidekick. Shaq is 37 and at the most has three more productive seasons left. Mo Williams was miscast as a “star sidekick” last year. For this team to really thrive long term with James, it would be ideal to have a young star in his 20s as either the shooting guard or power forward. We know that players like these don’t just fall from the sky, but imagine Amar’e Stoudemire at PF or Joe Johnson at SG. Hey, the possibility of landing a guy like Shaq, even at this age, seemed impossible just a year ago, right?

4. What are the goals for this team?

For the first time in LeBron James’ career, you can honestly say coming into a season that the NBA championship is the clear-cut goal for this organization this year. There’s no “let’s improve from last year’s record and playoff outcome.” There’s no “let’s try to just win the division” or “let’s win the East.” It’s win the NBA championship. Clear, cut and dry. Anything else will be a major disappointment.

The best record in the league was had last year. The best home record was in the bag, too. Nobody will remember that a few years from now. Heck, do many objective fans even remember that right now? Probably not.

If there’s no parade in downtown Cleveland this June, then not only is this season a major disappointment, but this organization is in serious trouble as well. The stakes have never been higher for any organization in sports when it comes to championship-or-bust.

5. What’s going on with Delonte West?

This has become a very sensitive subject for both the Cavs and West. Delonte was a critical component of what the Cavs accomplished last season, and at the age of 26, he is definitely someone that they’d like to keep in their long term plans.

But legal issues where West was arrested in Maryland for gun possession combined with issues about his bipolar disorder have made this a sticky situation for the wine and gold. It went to another level at the start of training camp when West missed several practices with unexcused absences.

The incumbent starter at shooting guard has not played at all during the preseason. The Cavs have, for the most part, been tight-lipped regarding the issue unless you’re buying stock in their politically correct answers.

However, West missed some time in camp last season and returned all recharged and ready to go, and he followed that up with what may have arguably been the best season of his career. The Cavs missed him badly for that month and a half he missed in January and February with a broken wrist, so the thought of missing him for a longer time than that is hard to swallow.

In the big picture, they have to give West as much time as he needs to get his personal life together. As hard as it has become for many of us to realize, sports and basketball take a back seat to real life issues. Defeating these personal battles and demons will be a bigger victory for Brotha Redbush than any golden trophy the NBA issues in June.

In the meantime however, the Cavs are going to have to learn to cope. The biggest pressure will be on Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson. As far as Gibson, 23, is concerned, he’s going to have to find his shot again and find it quick. Parker might be able to replace some of the intangibles that West brought.

If West misses any more time than the likely suspension that’s coming down on him from the league for his weapons possession charge, then that will be a major hurdle to clear for this year’s Cavs.

6. What can the Cavs expect from J.J. Hickson this year?

Hickson just turned 21, and he’s also coming of a major back injury that prematurely terminated his rookie season. But when the Cavs let Joe Smith walk in free agency, balked at bringing back Drew Gooden, and didn’t mind signing an injured Leon Powe, they had a plan in mind.

The plan was to keep a rotation spot open for Hickson to win. The team is extremely high on this kid dating back to his sensational Summer League performance in Vegas after being drafted in ‘08. He’s shown flashes of being a force, but those have been few and far in between. The injury didn’t help much, either.

You can expect Hickson to settle into his spot as the backup power forward to Anderson Varejao, and the Cavs’ depth and talent at other positions — not to mention King James himself — might cover up a lot of Hickson’s deficiencies. He spent a lot of time training and playing with James in the offseason, because as the team and the MVP both know, the Cavs need him to step up right now.

Barring any sort of trades, Hickson is the Cavs’ power forward of the future. And they’d like the future to come sooner rather than later — at least as far as this kid is concerned.

7. Shaq has had feuds with Penny, Kobe, DWade, and Nash before. How will his latest marriage with LeBron pan out?

LeBron is so much more different than any of the players on this list. He is literally a gift from the basketball gods in terms of his basketball acumen and knowledge of the game. Ever since he entered the league, he’s been known as a team-first player. He unselfishly distributes the basketball and sets his teammates up. In the past, those teammates just weren’t up to par with his talents, and the team suffered as a whole.

Now, James probably welcomes a star such as Shaq to take the pressure off him. If Shaq leads the team in scoring, James probably won’t care as long as the team is winning. Winning is what matters to this guy, who won three state championships in high school and put pressure on the Cavs organization to get him help quickly. Now’s the time for both him, the organization, and the city. He knows that.

The only problem that can arise is if Shaq doesn’t know that, as well. But from all observations — particularly his goal to “win a ring for the king” — it seems like The Diesel is on board.

Prediction: 67-15, NBA champions

The taste from that loss at Orlando is still bitter in these guys’ mouths. They know the stakes. After last season’s collapse, nothing — not even the vaunted Lakers — will stop this train this year.