What would a super team of all of LeBron James’ best co-stars from his first run with the Cleveland Cavaliers look like?
LeBron James had a lot of help in his first seven years as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, just not all at the same time and just not all when they were healthy and in their prime. It’s no lie that James had a hard time keeping a team together and keeping certain guys healthy. It’s also no lie to say that people just didn’t want to play with James. So what would a James lead super-team look like of all of his best side-kicks? Well, let’s take a look.
To understand why these are the names we’re pulling from you have to understand the state of the Cavaliers in the mid-2000s. They weren’t a free agent hotspot and the free agency period worked a lot different than it does now. Arguably the biggest free agent at the time that may have put the Cavs over the top was Michael Redd. Redd, one of the league’s best three-point shooters, opted to stay in Milwaukee rather than go elsewhere. A move that would cost him numerous title opportunities and eventually his career.
The team was left cobbling new parts together each and every year it seemed. The team couldn’t seem to find anyone that wasn’t an over-the-hill veteran or an over-achieving bench player to pair James with. Not even in 2009, when the team brought in Shaquille O’Neal and Antwan Jamison to pair with the young MVP. That eventually lead to the most infamous playoff series of the decade. The one that saw James quit against the Boston Celtics.
What would’ve happened if the Cavs had all of the best players on one team? What would that team even look like? Let’s take a look. A few rules to start. Firstly, they’re going to be as they were when acquired. Bad knees, too young, too old, or too obnoxious. Their age, maturity, talent, and weaknesses will all be looked at.
Secondly, this is going to be a team. Which means redundant parts or pieces won’t be needed. If you have two players who can do the same thing, then one will more than likely be replaced for a player with a different primary skillset. Thirdly, for simplicity’s sake, players will be listed by position.
So with all that out of way, let’s see who makes the cut.
Who makes the cut
Well, let’s look at the starting five. Each player needs to be someone who can bring something to the table. With Lebron James’ skillsets, you want to have guys who can pull up and shoot, as well as step outside and hit three’s. You also still want some guys inside who can bang and get those putback shots.
Obviously, Mo Williams, the only All-Star guard James had, will start at the point. His ability to hit three’s and play in the mid-range made him a dangerous scorer. His guard-mate will be former All-Star and fellow great shooter, Wally Szcerbiak. Szcerbiak may have been just about done when he arrived in Cleveland but he was still more athletic than Kyle Korver when the team acquired him, and he ate up a lot of minutes. Szcerbiak was also a better all-around scorer than Korver. So it can work. James is obviously your starter at small forward. At power forward is Carlos Boozer. He became one of the league’s best double-double machines in his prime. His ability to score inside and rebound was prolific. Then you have Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Another All-Star, another double-double machine, and a player who can stretch the court some with his mid-range shots.
Each player brings something unique offensively and can provide enough on their end to make some damage.
Your sixth man and role players off the bench will be Larry Hughes, Anderson Varejo, Antwan Jamison, and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson. The two most used would be Hughes and Jamison. Both men can fill in at multiple spots, making it possible for those two alone to fill in at four positions. You then have Varejo for his hustle play and Gibson for his shooting.
Lastly are your bench and reserve players, Ben Wallace, Eric Snow, J.J. Hickson, Danny Green, and Ira Newble. Now for Hickson and Green, they’re both young, can play defense, and give opposing players something to fret over should people get in foul trouble.
Wallace’s best years were behind him when he came to Cleveland and he was far from the same defensive stopper. With declining athleticism and a staggering bad offensive game, his best use would be in specific rotations if injuries happen. He can still play some good defense should the team need to get drastic on the matchups.
Rounding out the team are Snow and Newble, two smart players who played suffocating defense for Mike Brown. They’re not starters or big pieces of the puzzle this time around, just simply guys who, like with Wallace, can be a headache. Newble is your 14th man on the bench, so he’d only be activated in extreme situations. If there is a 15th man, it’d be Jason Kapono for his shooting but we’re not going to officially name him to the team just to keep a roster spot open.
Who misses the cut
There’s a number of players who are being omitted from the team, either for being too old, not being able to score, or simply filling a position that makes them a redundancy. Then there’s the chemistry issue guys. The trouble makers, if you will. For ease, every other player not listed will fall into the “not good enough” category.
Too old.
So who’s too old to be valuable? Firstly, Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal garnered a pitty All-Star selection the year prior to his arrival in Cleveland but had mostly been done as a player in the league for several years at this point. An albatross for all the teams that he played for in this period, O’Neal was never “good” at the technical aspects of the sport. He couldn’t dribble, he couldn’t shoot, and he couldn’t pass. He was just a physical force. At this point in his career, he was extremely overweight, had no stamina, and was a liability on both sides of the court. He single handily killed the Phoenix Suns chance at an NBA title.
Joining him are Joe Smith and Anthony Parker. Two other once-talented players who were shells of themselves by the time they rolled into Cleveland. Parker, however, still had his legs under him, making him effective defensively and on hustle plays.
Redundant
On the redundant or the “sorry, we already have the position filled” list are Jason Kapono, Drew Gooden, and Sasha Pavlovic. Kapono is the one name I thought about seriously replacing on the team, but Kapono was only a good shooter. He wasn’t a good defender, nor was he a very good passer. Wally Szcerbiak, Larry Hughes, and Boobie Gibson can do nearly the same job as Kapono at shooting the ball. They may not be as good as him on a one to one basis, but they all do well enough and provide something else to add to the team that Kapono lacked.
Sasha Pavlovic was a fine bench player for the team, but they had him heavily involved in the rotation during most of his tenure. He was a fine shooter but this team now has much better and more complete guys, making Pavlovic a guy who’s going to hold down the roster.
Kapono wasn’t the only hard name to cut, as Drew Gooden did a lot for this team. Yet, if we’re being honest, Gooden was a less physical, less talented Carlos Boozer. If Boozer never leaves, there’s no space on the team for Gooden.
Chemistry Issues
Do you want head cases? What about guys who are just as likely to drop 30 points, as well as setting the team jet on fire? Well, look no further than Ricky Davis and Delonte West. Davis is most infamous for trying to get a triple-double by taking a shot at his own basket and getting the rebound. Shockingly, it didn’t count. West, on the other hand, has….let’s say a complicated relationship with James.
Just not good enough
This group of names you’ll all know but shouldn’t have ever been brought on board. For Damon Jones, he was given the nickname “Amon Ones”, cus he had no “D” or “J”; aka he couldn’t play defense or shoot. Shannon Brown was young, but you could tell he was going to be a streaky player at best. Ronald “Flip” Murray was one of the worst perimeter shooters this era of teams had. Not a terrible thing if he were an NBA big but he wasn’t; he was a guard.
As for Dajuan Wagner and Jiri Welsch, they were young players who never showed enough to warrant shots on the team. Ironically enough both were taken in the same draft, and in the case of both, were taken ahead of better players. Wagner was picked ahead of Amar’e Stoudamire and Caron Butler. While Welsch was taken before Carlos Boozer and Tayshaun Prince.
The Lineups
As you can see below, the complete 14-man squad that I’ve come up with is filled with a variety of talent who all provide something unique and necessary for the team. Even the bench players have something to offer that’s unique. A perfect combination of shooters, inside scorers, defenders, and playmakers. Sure, if the players all came in at their peaks then this would be a vastly different looking list. After all, could you imagine a prime 23-year-old LeBron James and a prime 23-year-old Shaquille O’Neal? Holy crud, that would’ve been brutal.
That’s not what this lineup is though. This is strictly the best version of the players as they appeared on the Cavs.
"PG: Mo Williams SG: Wally Szcerbiak SF: LeBron James PF: Carloz Boozer C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas Sixth Man: Larry Hughes Role: Anderson Varejo Role: Antwan Jamison Role: Boobie Gibson Bench: Ben Wallace Bench: Eric Snow Bench: J.J. Hickson Bench: Danny Green RES: Ira Newble"
For the coaches, I think the most obvious one is Mike Brown. Yes, he was a defensive specialist and his offenses were tantamount to giving James the ball and saying “go”. Yet, I’d like to think that James would know what to do more and more with such skilled scorers as Williams, Szcerbiak, Boozer, Hughes, and Jamison. They were all incredible at various points and all were (could’ve been) All-Stars in their own right.
With Brown’s defense, and James leading the way, this team could easily win 60-plus games for a few seasons as is. Plus if we go all 2K Franchise on this, having Hickson and Green developing is a brilliant move. Both can step in eventually into the starting lineups, and Green’s versatility and defensively prowess makes him one of the perfect types of players to put around James during both men’s primes.
Part of me wants Kapono to be the 15th man, but I’m intentionally leaving that space blank. It just feels right to allow some space to be noncommittal about something like this. Kapono would be my pick, however, if the team needed that spot filled.