LeBron James: 8 offseason moves Cavs must consider if LeBron leaves

Should LeBron James depart the Cleveland Cavaliers,  the team will embark on upon a rebuild and this blueprint would be a great place to start.

Life without LeBron James promises some dark days for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but at least this time around, the city of Cleveland has a championship to hang its hat on.

Plus, this day was going to come. LeBron wasn’t going to be a Cavalier forever.

With the possibility of losing James, basketball junkies are excited at the idea of building a basketball team from the ground up.

Cleveland’s in much better shape this time around compared to 2010, when LeBron left the Cavs with nothing.

With an All-Star caliber asset on the roster in Kevin Love (more on this later), in addition to the eighth pick in this year’s draft, Cleveland has some flexibility to better position themselves for the future.

Some fans might look to free agency as a way to help Cleveland rebuild, but it’s not in the cards. Even without James, the Cavs are over the salary cap with a projected payroll of $102 million, about $1 million over the expected cap of $101 million for the 2018-2019 season.

Cleveland won’t be able to buy its way out of trouble, and that’s OK. How Golden State get to be Golden State? How’d Philadelphia put itself to be in position to be the next great dynasty out of the East? Shrewd moves, acquiring assets and hitting on draft picks.

These nine moves should be considered when it comes to rebuilding the Cavs in wake of LeBron’s departure.