Would LeBron James fill a need on this edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Would LeBron James fill a need within the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling and don’t need any real big moves but one can’t help but wonder how LeBron James would fit in with the Cavs. James isn’t someone the Cavs should make a trade for or make any concessions to, but if the Los Angeles Lakers were willing to trade him straight up for Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, and a few other players on the back end of the bench, would the Cavs really pass up the option?

It’s hard to say they wouldn’t, you’re literally getting a Top 50 player still for LeVert, Okoroa nd scrap pieces. You’d make that trade. The problem is would James take a far less focused role in the team?

Let’s play devil’s advocate. Firstly, let’s assume he’d take to being the third option on the team. We saw him step back in Miami to accommodate Dwayne Wade, and that was in his prime. At 38, he may be more willing to step back. Secondly, it’s not like he wants to run out the clock in Los Angeles, that squad needs a total teardown.

Thirdly, defensively, he’s an upgrade. Assuming he’s healthy. The biggest issue this team has is perimeter defense and if James is healthy, he’s still a net positive on defense. Then add James to the talent of Evan Mobley, Dean Wade, and Jarrett Allen, and all of a sudden you have a really formidable defense.

I think, if you can get James without the ego and the “LeGM” mentality, he’d be a huge boon for the team.

Fans shouldn’t hold out for a LeBron James trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers

Yeah, in an ideal world James returning to Cleveland makes all the sense in the world. A humbled and savvy James takes a backseat to the younger core and helps the team win an NBA title or two before taking a bow and heading off into the sunset.

The problem is, James isn’t that guy. If the Cavs were to trade for him, the Lakers would want a king’s ransom (pun fully intended) and James would then demand further changes to the roster. After all, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis are Lakers because James willed it. We’re not trading away young, super-talents to appease his desire to play with marquee names.

I want marquee talent, I don’t care about the name value of the player.

So James would likely want his own crew. If that wasn’t bad enough, just to land him without giving up any core players would mean you’d have to give up LeVert, Okoro, Robin Lopez, Raul Neto, Lamar Stevens, Dylan Windler, and the remaining Tacko Fall trade exception.

That’s a lot.

Then you have to factor in that while he’s still a positive defensive player, offensively he is not. He’s shooting career-worst or near-career-worst figures across the board. He’s hitting just 45% from the floor, the second-lowest of his career outside of his rookie season. He’s shooting just 24% from three, a career-low. He’s shooting just 67% from the free throw line, again the second lowest of his career.

Plus, he’s now severely injury-prone. He’s missed nearly a third of possible games since arriving in Los Angeles, and while two seasons only had 70 games, he hasn’t hit 70 games played in a year since. In fact, he only eclipsed 60 games once.

So not only is he expensive, declining, and has a personality that will insist on getting his way, but the team would also not have him for at least a third of the season. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but without LeVert, Okoro or Stevens, the team no longer has the depth to survive such stretches.

While James does improve the team defense, in theory, he does so much worse to the core beyond that. So he’d fill one need, sure but create so many more holes in the process.