With rumors that LeBron is flirting with leaving LA, does Cleveland make sense?
Let me know if this sounds familiar to any of you. A roster that is past its prime, scrambling and searching for answers. Coaching changes, a revolving door of role players, a team looking to find the “perfect” way to build around LeBron James while he still dons the team colors. We have seen this song and dance before.
Not only with the Cleveland Cavaliers twice but also with the Heat and now the Lakers. This is the price of being in the LeBron James business. It’s always been worth it. For all the media headaches, stress, and immense pressure he brings, the relevancy and floor raising he provides more than outweigh all the negatives. However, this is a different LeBron, one who while still impactful, is clearly in the twilight of his career.
There are no concrete rumors tying the Cavs to LeBron James, but we know that he isn’t happy and could be looking for an exit from LA. He’s recently changed his tune and said that he wants to retire with Los Angeles, but acknowledged that he knows how “the business of basketball works.”
The Cavaliers are looking to be a title contender so bringing in the best player in the franchise’s history and NBA History has to be an obvious yes right?.... Right?
The flat-out answer is not really. Let’s remove the emotion and sentimentality from the situation. The Cavaliers are a team that feels like they are a true wing defender away from having a near-complete roster. The Cavs are playing either taller twos or smaller fours as a makeshift stopgap to match up with the premier wing scorers in the league. They mostly can get away with it at times due to their defensive makeup of having rim deterrents and switch-capable bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Where does LeBron fix this problem?
For all the talk of how Father Time has caught up with LeBron, the predominant issue is the defense. Now, it’s no secret that LeBron takes plays off defensively. With the workload LeBron carries on a night-to-night basis, it would make sense that he gets the easiest defensive assignment and has lapses from time to time. However, defense is the Achilles heel of the Lakers currently and they possess Anthony Davis, who on any night is one of the best disruptors in the league.
LeBron currently finds himself detracting from his excellent offensive play. LeBron currently has a plus/minus of minus-103. This would be the third lowest of his career. LeBron looks to have not only lost a few steps on the defensive but the effort can’t even be described as passable. As a result, the Lakers’ defense is 6.4 points per 100 possessions worse with James on the floor.
LeBron has always excelled in being able to turn on the switch to take over on either end and rise to the occasion. However, it appears that this is the biggest drop-off for LeBron as it appears he is looking for the right buttons to press and this Lakers’ unit is capped at what it can perform. So how does any of what I illustrated help the Cavaliers? A team that constantly finds themselves too small at the wing and needs a wing-stopper needs the assistance of one of the worst defenders in the league right now.
Look, LeBron is a top 2 player all-time in the NBA, at his apex he was someone teams would avoid at all costs. Now, LeBron has become someone teams try to isolate and take to the rim repeatedly. I understand that his offense, especially on a Cavaliers team that is as efficient as it gets, could be a serious problem but there is more harm than good when the team is constantly playing four-on-five.
The Cavaliers are looking for someone who can deter the likes of Jason Tatum and Paolo Banchero. A soon-to-be 40-year-old LeBron James is going to enable those teams to run sets that get LeBron isolated on repeat. Having either Mobley or Allen to back him up is not a solution as the defense will collapse frequently to recover ground lost by LeBron.
Teams that decide to get in the LeBron James business don’t sign up for the defensive presence. LeBron’s chestmaster skillset on offense is a true difference-maker through his 21 years of play. The Lakers this season are still handing the keys to the offense to LeBron and the stats would reflect such. LeBron ranks in the 98th percentile in usage rate with a percentage of 32.6%. The best version of the Lakers offense continues to be LeBron running as point forward and sharing the floor with shooters.
The Cavaliers do not present an appealing replica of this lineup geometry. The Lakers give LeBron the lanes to get to the rim and spray the ball out if the clean look doesn’t present itself. The Cavalier’s offense as currently constructed runs through Mitchell and Garland. While both have shown improvements in off-ball shot generation I think that adding in another high-usage option could present ball-stopping and awkward lineups.
Not to mention, between Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the driving lanes will be more clogged than LeBron’s current situation in Los Angeles. Neither big replicates Anthony Davis’s shooting versatility and ability to heavily impact offenses while not sticking around the basket. We have never truly seen LeBron play a more supplementary role on offense and the Cavaliers do not need another player clamoring to run possessions.
While a third reunion with the franchise’s savior would be a nice way to close the book on LeBron’s career, under the given circumstances I don’t see how this benefits the Cavaliers as they keep their eyes toward title contention.
