Six Inches from Keeping Lebron
Lebron left Cleveland tonight. He may have been in L.A. all week at his residence in Southern California, but he left Cleveland for good yesterday. There is no doubt surrounding his decision coming Summer 2018. He will undoubtedly leave the Cavaliers for the second time in his career, dismantling the organization’s success for years to come.
In the early evening of August 22nd, Kyrie Irving was traded in a blockbuster deal to the Boston Celtics for Isiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a 2018 1st round unprotected pick from the Brooklyn Nets. Examining this trade on the surface, both teams seem to benefit. Kyrie wanted to be traded. Team unity and camaraderie would have been pitiful, so Irving had to be dealt. Boston receives a superstar scorer, one with very similar numbers to their previous point guard (Real Plus Minus: Irving 2.05, Thomas 1.83), but also a point guard that most teams would take over Thomas.
The Celtics will benefit in television time, attention, and attracting free agents in the future as Irving is locked in for two more years on his contract. Irving will be paired with freshly acquired Gordon Hayward. It appears to be a good fit as Irving wanted to be the feature player for a franchise, and in this tandem he is the superior talent.
Yet the Celtics will still not be favorites to reach the Finals next year. In fact, they might not even reach the Conference Finals. Without Lebron on the court for the Cavs this year, Irving led the team to a -2.1 net rating compared to a +10.4 net rating when Lebron was on the court (Yahoo Sports). Additionally since the 2014–2015 season, the Cavs are 4–19 with Lebron sitting out (ESPN). This is worrisome for a Boston squad that brings back only 4 players from last year’s conference finals team. Questions continue to swirl on Irving’s status as a team leader when the stats indicate he isn’t ready to take on that load, but Danny Ainge clearly believes in him as he finally made his long-awaited move in the trade market.
The Cavs situation is a bit more complex to approach and speculate, but some things are certain. They will be favored to reach the Finals again with a roster loaded with great role players (Crowder, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson, Derrick Rose) and two stars (Thomas, Love) fixated around Lebron. Their success in a 4th consecutive Finals match up with the Warriors will ultimately depend on Isiah’s recovery from the hip injury that sidelined him in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Danny Ainge was reportedly concerned with his hip moving forward, leading to Thomas’s departure.
But this will be the last year the Cavs will be favored to reach the Finals for the foreseeable future as Lebron will leave this upcoming Summer. The fact that Koby Altman sought out one of Danny Ainge’s coveted draft picks signals just how unsure Dan Gilbert is about James’s future. They downgrade in star power but remain competitive enough for Lebron’s final year. Unfortunately, competitiveness is not enough to keep him in town, especially with 5'8'’ Isiah Thomas being the 2nd best player on the squad. He is on an never ending quest for titles and always trying to boost his brand. He will look to find that in better suited teams and markets.

The rematches between these two teams in the regular season will be must-watch television, the first being October 17th in Cleveland. As fans, we can only hope that this ends in a playoff series that will reignite competitiveness in the Eastern Conference, especially with the West getting stronger with the likes of Jimmy Butler and Paul George switching to Western Conference teams. The headlines will be eye-catching and the drama at an all-time high, but both teams will be a bit weaker and eventually easier for the Warriors to overcome.
-David Walks
