Thank You Lebron

[Redz]

For heading west.  Any of the 4 teams left in the East have a legit shot at the Finals.  Any combo is an intriguing matchup.

I dunno...Maybe one of these teams would have been ready to knock the Cavs off.

[SparzWizard]

If LeBron was still here, Raptors will continue to get swept by him. And the Celtics will still somehow lose to him.

And a 9th straight NBA Finals appearance for him.

[MattyIce]

If LeBron was still here, Raptors will continue to get swept by him. And the Celtics will still somehow lose to him.

And a 9th straight NBA Finals appearance for him.

i think we'd beat him this year...then again i thought we would last year

[slamtheking]

I think either Toronto or the C's would beat Cleveland this year if Bron had stayed.  Toronto has Kawhi who is playoff-proven as opposed to Derozan.   C's have a healthier and deeper roster this year in the playoffs. 

Bron would probably beat Philly and I'd give him a 50/50 shot of beating Milwaukee depending on whether he had to cover Giannis himself or not.

[alt]

What would be LeBron's supporting cast in Cleveland? If it was the same as last year, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't beat any of these teams. Wouldn't even be close.

But they'd have some sort of assets to improve the team, so it's difficult to say.

[celticsclay]

Strange thought. Lebron is about 50-50 to make the all nba third team this year. I guess maybe the cavs are the 6th seed with him? We actually would probably be better if he had signed a bloated contract in Cleveland for 4 years.

[Redz]

Strange thought. Lebron is about 50-50 to make the all nba third team this year. I guess maybe the cavs are the 6th seed with him? We actually would probably be better if he had signed a bloated contract in Cleveland for 4 years.

Yeh

Maybe he took the easy way out .

Anyhow it's nice to have some new competition

[mr. dee]

We would have beaten Lebron last year with Kyrie and Gordy. He's always lucky, he never faced a fully healthy Celtic squad since 2010.

[Moranis]

If both Love and Lebron missed as many games as they did, I think the Cavs would have been the 6th seed.  I'm not sure they even beat the Sixers in the 1st round in that scenario given Butler is actually one of the better Lebron defenders.

That said, if Lebron had re-signed, I think the Cavs would have pretty aggressively gone after Butler.  Does a package centered around Sexton top what the Sixers ended up getting him for, especially if they would have taken Dieng's bloated contract off their hands?  Given all of the trades it is hard to do the numbers on these things but something like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson, Smith for Butler and Dieng.  I don't know if that is a better trade than the Wolves got, but it would have provided them some additional salary relief.  The Cavs would have then been Hill, Butler, James, Love, Thompson with Hood, Korver, Nance, and Zizic (plus whatever veteran minimum type players they would have added).  That is probably still the best team in the East this year. 

[Somebody]

If both Love and Lebron missed as many games as they did, I think the Cavs would have been the 6th seed.  I'm not sure they even beat the Sixers in the 1st round in that scenario given Butler is actually one of the better Lebron defenders.

That said, if Lebron had re-signed, I think the Cavs would have pretty aggressively gone after Butler.  Does a package centered around Sexton top what the Sixers ended up getting him for, especially if they would have taken Dieng's bloated contract off their hands?  Given all of the trades it is hard to do the numbers on these things but something like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson, Smith for Butler and Dieng.  I don't know if that is a better trade than the Wolves got, but it would have provided them some additional salary relief.  The Cavs would have then been Hill, Butler, James, Love, Thompson with Hood, Korver, Nance, and Zizic (plus whatever veteran minimum type players they would have added).  That is probably still the best team in the East this year.

I doubt that team would be the best team in the East this year, a Hill-Butler-Bron-Love-Dieng lineup isn't on par with the Raptors and Celtics imo. They would still be in the mix to make the finals though simply because the Raptors have Bronphobia lol, so they could make the finals if the Celtics face the Raptors in the second round.

[CelticsWhat35]

If the Cavs ran it back with the same roster, they would’ve probably been the 5th or 6th seed and been out in the first round.  Lebron knew the Cavs were toast.  If you want to thank him, thank him for continuing to make the Lakers a circus.

[Moranis]

If both Love and Lebron missed as many games as they did, I think the Cavs would have been the 6th seed.  I'm not sure they even beat the Sixers in the 1st round in that scenario given Butler is actually one of the better Lebron defenders.

That said, if Lebron had re-signed, I think the Cavs would have pretty aggressively gone after Butler.  Does a package centered around Sexton top what the Sixers ended up getting him for, especially if they would have taken Dieng's bloated contract off their hands?  Given all of the trades it is hard to do the numbers on these things but something like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson, Smith for Butler and Dieng.  I don't know if that is a better trade than the Wolves got, but it would have provided them some additional salary relief.  The Cavs would have then been Hill, Butler, James, Love, Thompson with Hood, Korver, Nance, and Zizic (plus whatever veteran minimum type players they would have added).  That is probably still the best team in the East this year.

I doubt that team would be the best team in the East this year, a Hill-Butler-Bron-Love-Dieng lineup isn't on par with the Raptors and Celtics imo. They would still be in the mix to make the finals though simply because the Raptors have Bronphobia lol, so they could make the finals if the Celtics face the Raptors in the second round.

I'd absolutely favor that Cavs teams over the Raptors, Bucks, and Celtics.  Lebron is still a top 5 player in the league (and playoff Lebron might very well still be the best player in the league).  Butler was widely regarded as a top 10 to 12 player entering the year, plus as such a great wing defender he can actually take some defensive pressure off of Lebron.  You move Love back into that 3rd option role and he can really thrive.  Hill is a pretty solid PG for that team in that role (3 and D type player).  Thompson, Nance and Dieng all do the dirty work down low.  They still have Korver making daggers and Hood being a nice offensive option off the bench. 

[td450]

If both Love and Lebron missed as many games as they did, I think the Cavs would have been the 6th seed.  I'm not sure they even beat the Sixers in the 1st round in that scenario given Butler is actually one of the better Lebron defenders.

That said, if Lebron had re-signed, I think the Cavs would have pretty aggressively gone after Butler.  Does a package centered around Sexton top what the Sixers ended up getting him for, especially if they would have taken Dieng's bloated contract off their hands?  Given all of the trades it is hard to do the numbers on these things but something like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson, Smith for Butler and Dieng.  I don't know if that is a better trade than the Wolves got, but it would have provided them some additional salary relief.  The Cavs would have then been Hill, Butler, James, Love, Thompson with Hood, Korver, Nance, and Zizic (plus whatever veteran minimum type players they would have added).  That is probably still the best team in the East this year.

I doubt that team would be the best team in the East this year, a Hill-Butler-Bron-Love-Dieng lineup isn't on par with the Raptors and Celtics imo. They would still be in the mix to make the finals though simply because the Raptors have Bronphobia lol, so they could make the finals if the Celtics face the Raptors in the second round.

I'd absolutely favor that Cavs teams over the Raptors, Bucks, and Celtics.  Lebron is still a top 5 player in the league (and playoff Lebron might very well still be the best player in the league).  Butler was widely regarded as a top 10 to 12 player entering the year, plus as such a great wing defender he can actually take some defensive pressure off of Lebron.  You move Love back into that 3rd option role and he can really thrive.  Hill is a pretty solid PG for that team in that role (3 and D type player).  Thompson, Nance and Dieng all do the dirty work down low.  They still have Korver making daggers and Hood being a nice offensive option off the bench.

It would have been fun watching LeBron and Butler gouge each others eyes out.

[Big333223]

Lebron barely scraped out of a weaker East last season. I doubt he'd have gotten out of this second round if he'd stayed in Cleveland.

[celticsclay]

If both Love and Lebron missed as many games as they did, I think the Cavs would have been the 6th seed.  I'm not sure they even beat the Sixers in the 1st round in that scenario given Butler is actually one of the better Lebron defenders.

That said, if Lebron had re-signed, I think the Cavs would have pretty aggressively gone after Butler.  Does a package centered around Sexton top what the Sixers ended up getting him for, especially if they would have taken Dieng's bloated contract off their hands?  Given all of the trades it is hard to do the numbers on these things but something like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson, Smith for Butler and Dieng.  I don't know if that is a better trade than the Wolves got, but it would have provided them some additional salary relief.  The Cavs would have then been Hill, Butler, James, Love, Thompson with Hood, Korver, Nance, and Zizic (plus whatever veteran minimum type players they would have added).  That is probably still the best team in the East this year.

That’s pretty weird you think that would be the best team in the east (to say nothing of the fact love has not had a fully healthy year in years). It’s also worth noting that Minnesota wanted ready to perform nba players like Dario and Covington and hoped to still make the playoffs. Sexton, osman etc is not what the twolves were looking for. Their honestly is not a feasible way the cavs could have been the best team in the east this summer. It’s really some intense mental gymnastics to not realize that.