The NBA trade deadline often times passes with only small moves being made, but yesterday's deadline was far different than that. There were a ton of moves made, and the team that was at the focus of many of those moves were the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland has been to the NBA Finals in three consecutive years, winning the title one of those times. It was widely believed that they would return to the Finals again this year, but the team has not exactly met expectations thus far, as they are currently 7.5 games behind the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
While I was beginning to be somewhat skeptical of their chances to reach the NBA Finals, I still did believe that when the playoffs rolled around, they would legitimately be the betting favorite to win the East, despite what seemed like mounting uncertainty. However, I think that no matter who wins the East, that team will still ultimately fall to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. The only question is how many games it will take the Warriors to win the series.
I have heard some people say that this revamped Cavs roster is improved and has a better chance to compete with Golden State, but in the end, in my opinion, Golden State is just too good. If anyone has a chance to beat them, it is the Houston Rockets, not the winner of the Eastern Conference. So that brings into question this upcoming offseason, and the possibility of the best player in the league, LeBron James, potentially being a free agent again.
When this happened the first time, a whole lot of teams thought they could possibly sign James, and it turned out that many of those potential suitors were delirious. This time around, I think there are going to be just as many teams that are kidding themselves thinking they have a shot at getting James.
To start, I do think that there is surely a possibility that James stays in Cleveland. It is his hometown team, and despite whatever sort of divide there may be between James and the owner of the Cavs, Dan Gilbert, it is a fact that Gilbert has been willing to pay a whole lot of money to players in order to support James. This is a note that can be discussed another time, but Gilbert has been ready to spend money at the drop of a hat for LeBron, and I think that is mostly overlooked.
Following the trades made yesterday, so many people want to point to the Lakers as a leading candidate in being the destination for LeBron. They cleared a ton of cap space, Magic Johnson is in charge, and James has a home in Los Angeles. LeBron James is worth almost $90 million. People with that much money have the ability to own houses in multiple places. And if you could own a second home, Los Angeles would surely be a good place for it to be. I am sure plenty of rich people own second homes in Los Angeles, so I don't know why talking heads think that matters.
Another potential suitor I have heard mentioned is the Philadelphia 76ers. With all of the young talent they have on the roster, LeBron would surely want to join that team. Is that reality though, or is that just wishful thinking?
Is the potential in Philadelphia for success there already? Yes, it is. However, are there any sort of recent results to suggest that success will occur? No. Does Magic Johnson being in control of the Lakers help their case? Yes, it does. But is it going to be the deciding factor? In my opinion, the answer to that question is absolutely not. And I will present my case for that right now, with a little help from the career of Magic Johnson.
In no particular order here, I think that when any basketball fan talks about the best players to ever play the game, they would include the following men: Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Shaquille O'Neal, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. Not only were all of those men some of the best to ever play, but they all won multiple championships as well. If you look a little closer though, we can find a serious connection between all of those guys and LeBron James.
The last time Kobe Bryant won a championship, he was 32 years old. The last time Chamberlain won, he was 36. The last time Larry Bird won he was 30. At the time of their last championships, Russell was 35. O'Neal was 34. Jordan was 35. What really shocked me was when I looked at how old Magic Johnson was when he won his final championship. He was only 29! Magic Johnson is one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game, but after he turned 30, he never won another title.
If you take all of those men and their ages at the time of their last title, the average age is 33. Two months ago, LeBron James celebrated his 33rd birthday. For that reason, I think you need to throw the 76ers and the Lakers out of the equation when it comes to trying to decide the next destination for James if he does end up leaving Cleveland.
The "process" is underway in Philadelphia, and they are a borderline playoff team this year. Ben Simmons seems like he will be a very good NBA player. Joel Embiid has been very good when he is on the court, but he has never played more than 50 games as a pro. Markelle Fultz was drafted first overall and has yet to play a game in the NBA. Is there potential for success in Philadelphia? Certainly. However, is there any sort of proof that they can win right now? Absolutely not. So, at this point in his career, why would James want to play with a team full of uncertainties? I highly doubt that he would.
When it comes to the Lakers, I have legitimate reason to be even more skeptical. Who is the best player on the Lakers right now? Brandon Ingram? Kyle Kuzma? Lonzo Ball? I hate to break it to LA fans, but those are not names that I would consider championship caliber. LeBron might own a house near the Staples Center, but in no way does that mean he is going to be playing there any time soon.
Even though I know that LeBron James will never read this, I don't care. Here is my advice to him. If you do not want to re-sign with Cleveland, there is one place you should go where you will have the best chance to win another title. That place is San Antonio.
It has been proven over the past decade that one superstar cannot win a title by himself. You need at least two superstars to win it all. The San Antonio Spurs already have that in place. Kawhi Leonard is in the prime of his career. He has already won one title, and is ready to win another. Gregg Popovich is arguably one of the best coaches in the history of the game. He is the master of taking heat off his players and shutting down the media. LeBron James would be perfect on a Popovich team.
Were James to go to the Spurs, they would have two legitimate superstar players, and they would have a legitimate chance to compete for an NBA title. Do James and Leonard play similar positions? Yes, they do. However, players that good can figure out roles for one another, especially when they are being coached by an all-time great.
As I said before, if LeBron James wants to be considered one of the best players in the history of the game, the window on the prime of his career is closing right now. Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird never won a title after they turned 33, and James is already there. He should not go to a team like the 76ers or the Lakers and bank on a bunch of unproven and "potential" guys. He needs to go to a team that is in a position to win right now. Maybe Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram will hit their peaks a few years from now. When that time comes though, LeBron James will have already passed his peak.
If James is really about winning championships, then I think the best way he can do that is to sign with the San Antonio Spurs. They are already a very good team, and while they may not be able to beat the Warriors as of now, they may just be a LeBron James away from being the best team in the NBA. Not five years from now, but right now. And if I were James, I would not be focused on trying to win a title five years from now, I would be focused on winning a title right now.
Daily Rangers Update: The organization wrote a letter to the fans about how much they cared for the team while at the same time saying they might plan for the future and some of the biggest names on the roster might have to be traded for that to happen. At this point, I am just hoping I can identify whoever is out on the ice for the team for the remainder of the season.
Daily NBA Update: As I just mentioned, the trade deadline was crazy yesterday. However, despite that, the Warriors are still better than everyone else.
Daily Giants Update: Nothing too much new here. I am starting to like the thought of picking Saquon Barkley second overall because he is so talented, but I still think that the team has to take a quarterback here, because picking second overall does not happen very often, and you need to take advantage of it when it does happen.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: As the date for pitchers and catchers reporting is now a week away, this crazy offseason continues and J.D. Martinez still remains unsigned. It seems like he is souring on the offers from Boston, and I think the possibility of him returning to Arizona gets greater and greater by the day.
This will be a subject for another day, but the fact that there is a possibility of a spring training for in-signed free agents is something I have never heard of. I can get into the details of it all at another time, but for right now, maybe we can get the man who helped slug us into the playoffs last season.
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