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Cavs/Warriors IV turned out to be the least dramatic of their four meetings. So much so, that the ramifications from the Cleveland sweepage could have long lasting effects on the franchise and its best player.

What it means for the Cavaliers

Sure some bad calls no doubt went against them that could’ve changed everything. But when Golden State lost, they went out and got Kevin Durant; when the Cavaliers lost, Kyrie Irving demanded a trade. That’s the story of this tetralogy in a nutshell.

Upon winning the 2016 title, the Cavs star players got paid. The role players got paid. The coach got paid. Only the general manager (for some reason) was left out in the cold. That’s all good—the Warriors all got paid, too. But Kyrie Irving was reportedly unhappy the entire season following, and ultimately, forced his way out of town.

Cleveland had to make a deal. As wild as this Cavs season has been, it would’ve somehow been worse had Irving been brought back, creating a toxic situation in the locker room that likely would’ve fractured the team and would end in a season-ending knee injury anyway. All the revisionist history in the world won’t change the fact that the Cavs/Celtics trade looked good for Cleveland on paper at the time they made it, especially considering what the going rate for disgruntled star players had been. Unfortunately for them, the Cavs (even after the subsequent deadline deals) ended up only getting about 35 cents on the dollar.

Some will criticize management for not doing EVERYTHING to keep LeBron. And maybe they didn’t do EVERYTHING, but they did do about 85% of EVERYTHING. The other 15% was hanging onto the Brooklyn Nets lottery pick. It’s the only asset the team has left after jettisoning everything in order to appease LeBron. Those critical of this decision will undoubtedly forget how Dan Gilbert & Co. were trashed for not having any contingency whatsoever after LeBron departed in 2010. The “fool me once” adage dictates that the Cavs tuck at least one lottery pick in their back pocket, just in case.

This Cavs team will be remembered for getting swept in the Finals, but getting within four wins of a championship was an incredible accomplishment given all they’ve endured.

The defining image of the 2017-18 season.

Still, that may not be enough to keep LeBron James in a Cavs uniform. And you can’t help but wonder how this all might have been different if Gilbert actually brought back the one GM that helped bring the city a championship. It’ll likely be his biggest regret as an owner, as that decision may have been the catalyst for the team losing Irving, James, millions in ticket/merch sales and their kung fu grip on the Eastern Conference.

What it means for LeBron James

The hardest thing in sports today appears to be assigning the proper amount of credit and blame to LeBron for the Cavaliers’ Finals defeat at the hands of the Warriors, and the current state of the team.

You don’t have to like him, but if you can’t acknowledge his performance through Game 1 of the Finals as one of the greatest individual postseason runs ever, then you really should retire from following basketball. That said, his last three games were pedestrian (by his standards), as his play was likely hampered by several nagging injuries, not the least of which included a busted up shooting hand. Still, 42 minutes, 34 points on 54% shooting, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 block and 1.4 steals per game; two game-winners, and dragging a substandard supporting cast back to the Finals; all that after playing 82 games in his 15th season; and it might be the greatest playoff sprint in NBA history.

But he got swept in the Finals. So he will get clowned for it, fair or unfair…

Nah, forget that. Of course it’s unfair.

This is like Christmas morning for LeBron haters. But how is it nobody in America gave the Cavs a chance at winning the Finals, yet it’s somehow okay to shit on LeBron when his team takes the L? Haters, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t hold a loss against him that everybody saw coming—it’s evidence his team wasn’t equipped to win this series from jump.

So where does this leave James?

He can play anywhere, but only Cleveland, Los Angeles and Houston feel like real possibilities. None are perfect fits, but the idea of playing with his best friend in Houston and putting together a Big 3 to rival the Warriors makes sense. And the appeal of playing with the Lakers is pretty obvious (just not in a basketball context right now).

LeBron has always maintained winning was his top priority, but that may no longer be the case. With his children getting older, he plans on factoring their opinion into his decision. If they and his wife wish to remain in Northeast Ohio, which deep down LeBron probably does as well (he said as much in his letter), it may be easiest to take the $200M+ super max deal the Cavs offer. Although it likely wouldn’t lead to a drastically enhanced team than the one just Swiffered out of the NBA Finals in the immediate future. And time isn’t on 23’s side.

And here lies the conundrum of LeBron. If you notice, the 2018 Cavs look a helluva lot like the 2010 Cavs and the 2014 Heat: an old team with a ridiculous payroll anchored by bloated contracts that are borderline impossible to move, with no real draft picks or future assets to speak of, resulting in no clear path for improvement. The bulk of this is caused by LeBron’s desire to sign shorter contracts and use his threat of skipping town as leverage to bully a team into doing whatever he wants. If he leaves the Cavs again, it’ll be the third team he’s left in smoldering ruins after they’ve exhausted nearly every resource to appease him.

Sidebar: Every team in the league would’ve done the same thing if it meant having LeBron for four years, with four straight conference championships and an NBA title. So we can’t play this game where we roast the Cavs front office not being able to significantly improve the team in one offseason, or retroactively pick apart decisions they made. It’s impossible to be under extreme pressure to build for the present and simultaneously build for the future.

And as we’ve discussed in the past, LeBron also seemed to play a pivotal role in the Kyrie trade, or short of that, Kyrie’s request of a trade. James told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that he contacted management to ask them NOT to trade Kyrie. What LeBron didn’t say was A) when that call was made or B) and more importantly, if he ever called Kyrie himself.

Irving was first rumored to be part of a deal that would’ve netted the Cavs Paul George and Klutch Sports’ Eric Bledsoe. Was LeBron aware of these talks? Did he approve them or did he place the call to management to block this deal? Allegedly, once Kyrie found out, his trade demand was made. Did LeBron then place his call and asked not to do the Boston deal, or not to deal Irving at all? None of these questions were raised, but it stands to reason that if LeBron was truly doing all he could to keep Irving, he would’ve reached out to him personally to smooth things over. Yet even the most plugged in Cavs beat writers never reported such talks transpired.

Animosity seemed to be brewing between the two stars, because if it was all good in the hood, why would Kyrie post this all-time Snapchat troll job?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR0QMLLM_eQ

No athlete in this era has earned the right to dictate the their future more than James, but those dictations come with a cost. LeBron left Cleveland in 2010 in a tasteless way. We thought his karma was the Dallas series in 2011—turns out it was making it acceptable for another star to join up with a great team, forming a juggernaut that appears to have put an unexpected and impenetrable lock on his trophy case. LeBron is, in many ways, his own worst enemy.

What would bouncing again do to his legacy, especially if he left for a new super squad and still didn’t win? When compared to greats like Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe and Duncan (none of whom ever changed teams in order to win), LeBron will be the guy who acted as a mercenary that stuck around just long enough for a team to expend all of its resources on his behalf before moving to his next stop. If he leaves again, it won’t be the Cavaliers’ fault for not keeping him.

It just proves LeBron James was never meant to be “kept”.

Click here to read Part 1 of our NBA Finals Fallout on the Warriors.