Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers are saying “We’ve seen this one before” after watching Luka Doncic on Tuesday

Luka Doncic and LeBron James are going to be known for dragging bad teams to the playoffs, aren’t they?

Tuesday night saw Luka Doncic go off for an unheard-of triple-double. He dropped 60 points, pulled down 20 rebounds, and had 10 assists all while leading the way to a Mavericks win over the New York Knicks. It was an incredible outing and fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t help but get sucked back to 2007 when LeBron James dragged a Cavs unit kicking and screaming to the NBA Finals.

The parallels between the two players are already obvious. They’re both play-making scorers, with Doncic having the edge over James in his offensive versatility but James is the better defender, but both men are arguably the only two men in 20 years who could drag a team of mid-tier players to not just the playoffs but potentially the NBA Finals.

Watching Doncic drag a bunch of “also-rans” with skillsets that barely fit him offensively is an incredible experience. It’s basketball magic. It should remind everyone of the Cavs’ 2007 squad. Both men are about the same age, and both teams had the same record. The Cavs through 35 games in ’07 were 23-12, while the Mavs are 19-16, so about a four-game swing between the two. The two teams are also defensively fantastic, with the 07 Cavs being fourth in defensive output while the Mavs are currently fifth and climbing.

They’re both led by a skilled playmaker and are surrounded by defensive-minded sidekicks, with defensive-minded coaches. The parallels between the two are pretty impressive and dare I say, spooky.

The 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2023 Dallas Mavericks are very similar, but…

If we’re comparing the two squads, practically identical, but if we’re being honest, the 2007 Cavs were maybe a bit individually better. They had a genuine second All-Star besides LeBron James in center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That’s something Doncic hasn’t had yet, a  genuine second All-Star.

Doncic does have Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood, but they’re very similar to Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden. They’re good scheme fits but aren’t difference-makers. As good as Wood is, he’s far from an All-Star caliber player. So I would give the 07 Cavs team a slight edge in quality, but just barely.

The two teams are pretty dang similar despite all that and if Doncic can carry his squad deep into the playoffs, especially a year removed from losing Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunsen, then Doncic can know he’s right there with James at the same point in their careers.

While he’s following in his footsteps, let’s just hope Doncic doesn’t bolt to Denver when his contract expires to team up with Nikola Jokic as James did with Miami.