Cleveland Cavaliers: Questions surrounding the summer of LeBron James
LeBron James will headline the 2018 free agency class
LeBron is the undisputed headliner for the summer of 2018, but he isn’t the only major star that will be a free agent. Before we get to the other free agents joining LeBron in the summer of 2018 let’s focus on his current team. The Cavaliers are considered superteam with LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin Love leading the way. As previously mentioned, LeBron is an Alpha but the other two members of the Big Three are both Gamma players.
Cleveland Cavaliers
This team combines for five-star points. Compare this to warriors who have two Alphas (Durant and Curry), a Beta (Green) and Gamma (Klay). The Warriors team combines for nine-star points.
Based on this theory, it is no surprise that the Warriors are the current NBA champions.
Like LeBron, Demarcus Cousins and Paul George are free agents in the summer of 2018. Cousins and George are rumored to be locks to join LeBron on the Lakers. Cousins is a Beta and George is likely to jump to Beta status as well. Would it be far-fetched for Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram to morph into Gammas by the time LeBron gets to the Lakers? This Lakers team gets us to nine-star points which match the Warriors. Nine is greater than five, isn’t it? The Lakers make more sense for LeBron, don’t they?
Magic Johnson’s ascendancy to the presidency of the Lakers has brought relevance back to the Lakers. As previously outlined, stars are likely heading to the Lakers in next summer.
The only team in the NBA with more banners than the Lakers is the Boston Celtics and that is an amazing legacy. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal are all Laker greats that had Hall of Fame careers. The addition of these players all lead to a championship banner, will LeBron be any different?
Historical banners and retired jerseys of Hall of Famers who started careers elsewhere make the Lakers relevant for LeBron. Ingram and Ball, just as Kyrie was before LeBron headed to Cleveland, are young players seemingly earmarked for stardom. When Ingram was drafted he was considered to be a mirror version of NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and nothing has happened since that would suggest that he can’t live up to this lofty expectation. Magic Johnson at least seemed to think so by naming Ingram a Laker untouchable. Ball is considered to be the next Jason Kidd, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The potential of these two players is another reason why the Lakers are relevant again. The return to relevancy makes the Lakers a very attractive free agent destination come the summer of 2018.