Leading this Cavs team to the Finals may not be Lebron’s greatest accomplishment, but it’s among the highest in difficulty. I feel like a lot of people are downplaying just how bad this team is. LeBron didn’t have Kevin Love for most of Game 6 and all of Game 7.
After that delicious public diss of Dan Gilbert, I don’t see how LeBron returns to this team. Beyond Gilbert, they have no cap space and no reasonable way to improve the team. They have the Nets pick which isn’t getting them past a fully loaded Celtics next year. LeBron has what, two, maybe three more years of elite play left. I don’t think he wants to be the first option anymore. It’s exhausting to carry a subpar team especially at 33. LeBron wants the ball in his hands, but he wants to be more like Magic Johnson in that he’s finding guys good looks. No way he wastes away in Cleveland.
And to clarify, I’m not one of those Lakers fans who hates LeBron James. Again, if you can get that kind of talent, you take it and figure out the rest later. Still, he doesn’t make sense on the Lakers (even with Paul George) for the same reasons he doesn’t make sense on the Sixers. Best case scenario is a sign and trade to a team on the same timeline he’s on.