Other than retirement, which seems unlikely for him, LeBron James has three main options this offseason. He can stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, return to the Cleveland Cavaliers or join his good friends Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors.
Going back to the Cavaliers, the team he played his first seven seasons with and then went back to for four more years, seems to make a lot of sense, especially in a sentimental way. James is from nearby Akron, Ohio, and he has never forgotten his humble roots in Northeast Ohio.
However, per Fadeaway World, multiple people around the league feel that the Cavaliers cannot win the NBA championship with James on their roster, even though he remains a superstar-level player after 23 years in the league.
One executive cited a weakness the New York Knicks exposed when they swept Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals just a few weeks ago and how James wouldn’t do anything to address that deficiency.
“I understand the Cavs would wrap up LeBron’s career in a nice bow,” the executive said. “But Cleveland hasn’t really shown enough. Defensively, if you have LeBron, [James] Harden and Donovan [Mitchell], you have zero perimeter defense. If he’s going there with the idea of trying to contend, that will be pretty tough. We’ll see what they end up doing. But at [Koby] Altman’s press conference, it sounds like they’re going to try to run it back. I’m not really sure. They’re a second-apron team. So their personnel is about to get worse, not better.”
During that four-game sweep, the Knicks kept exposing Cleveland’s lack of plus defenders on the perimeter. In particular, they kept going after Harden, who has never been regarded as an excellent defender and is nearing his 37th birthday.
One assistant coach said that because of the great skills of Harden and Mitchell, both of whom are combination facilitators and volume scorers, James would have a hard time fitting in.
“LeBron would have to do more physically because of their guards and style of play. How he fits into the roster, he doesn’t get to use his brilliance with his playmaking. He becomes more of a high-level role player. In my opinion, it wouldn’t be as fun for him.”
One scout was succinct and harsh about whether it makes any basketball sense for James to return to Cleveland.
“What does he bring to Cleveland? They’ve already got to deal with Harden. They don’t want another old guy.”
James is 41 years of age and will turn 42 in late December. While he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists a game this season and adjusted remarkably well to being the Lakers’ third scoring option, he doesn’t seem to be able to sustain elite-level play as long as he could just a few years ago. At this point in his career, he will likely have to take a back seat to someone, if for no other reason than to conserve his energy for big games, big moments and the playoffs.
In eight seasons with James, the Lakers won the NBA championship in 2020, but they have also gotten past the first round of the playoffs only twice since claiming that title, and they have even missed the playoffs twice. Some Lakers fans have been wanting him to leave for some time, but other fans are hoping the franchise makes the right moves this summer in order to send James into retirement with another ring.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: NBA executives doubt the Cavaliers could win with LeBron James
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
