LeBron James is the best player in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history, full stop. There is no one else who even comes close. He leads the Cavs in just about every all-time statistic there is; only Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) is ahead of him in a few, namely blocks and fouls. James made All-NBA first or second team with the Cavs 10 times; all other Cavs players in franchise history have done that just once (Mark Price in 1992-93).
Every MVP award given to a member of the Cavaliers was won by James, as were 21 of the franchise’s 25 playoff series wins. Perhaps most importantly, James brought home the franchise’s only championship in 2016. No one would argue: James is one of the greatest players of all time, and he is unequivocally the best in Cavaliers franchise history.
LeBron James is a franchise icon, and the Cavs have understandably struggled without him. Are this year’s Cavs better than LeBron for the first time ever?
Without LeBron suiting up for the Wine and Gold, the Cavs have floundered. They haven’t been to the playoffs without him since 1998, and they haven’t won a series without him since 1993. They have averaged 22 wins per season in the seven complete years without him, the first four when he was in Miami and then the last three while he was in Los Angeles.
LeBron won three titles in those seven seasons, making the NBA Finals in five of them. The only year he didn’t make the playoffs at all was in 2018-19, and even then his Lakers team (playing much of the season with an injured James) doubled up the Cavs’ win total.
Now the tables have turned. The Cavs are off to their best non-LeBron start in a long time, 25-18 with the best net rating in the Eastern Conference. The Lakers, on the other hand, are mired in the morass of .500 basketball, looking up at the rest of the Western Conference contenders.
For the first time ever, we can now ask the question: are the Cavs better than LeBron’s team? Let’s see if we can find out the answer.
Are the Cavs better than LeBron: Lakers struggles
The Los Angeles Lakers are playing poorly this season. As of this writing, they sit at 21-21 with a negative net rating on the season despite playing the league’s third-easiest schedule. The Russell Westbrook acquisition has been a disaster, both in terms of his poor fit with LeBron and also the opportunity cost of filling in around them with minimum players. Players are coming straight from the G League to the starting lineup, and not always because of COVID-19.
LeBron himself is playing well, averaging 29.1 points per game to go with 7.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks. Those are numbers that could once again place him on the All-NBA first team. Yet even James has his limits, and whether it’s age (37 years old as of last month) or the incredibly poor fit of the roster around him, he hasn’t been able to elevate his team into a winning squad.
The NBA season is a series of ups and downs, and even if the Lakers have a worse record than the Cavs it doesn’t mean they are absolutely the better team. James has missed some time, Anthony Davis has been out for a long stretch and much of their bench has been decimated by COVID-19 and injuries.
Even so, put all of the Lakers’ players together, and this just doesn’t look like a contender. Even if they get healthy by the postseason (and huge if, given the injury history of much of this roster) the pieces available to Frank Vogel just don’t fit together. Nothing about the Lakers except for LeBron’s history suggests this is a title contender. The question that has to be asked now is whether this is even a playoff team.
Are the Cavs better than LeBron: Cavs soaring
A down year for LeBron’s team doesn’t necessarily mean the Cavs will be better than him. Cleveland has been the dregs of the league without James. Yet this season is not just a down season for James, it’s a banner season for his old team.
The Cavs sit at 25-18 as of this writing, already more wins than they tallied all of last season. These aren’t lucky wins, either; despite rolling waves of injuries and COVID absences the Cavs have the best net rating in the Eastern Conference, suggesting they are even better than their record.
The Cavs are on track for their best non-LeBron season since drafting him in 2003. It’s a low bar to clear, 33 wins in 2013-14, and the Cavs should easily surpass that in February. In all seven non-LeBron seasons they finished with a negative offensive rating and defensive rating. This season they are positive in both, including the league’s third-best defense.
Everything about the Cavs’ performance thus far screams that it is legitimate. They lead the Eastern Conference in net rating — higher than Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Miami or Chicago. They have played the league’s third-hardest schedule thus far, and have its easiest slate remaining. There is no reason to expect the Cavs not to finish the season as a playoff team.
Are the Cavs better than LeBron: The verdict
Let’s start with the case for the Lakers. For all that their roster is poorly assembled, their star big man was ice cold until he went down with an extended injury and they are giving copious minutes and touches to a downright damaging point guard…there is a way to squint and see a contender.
A healthy Lakers team has a shot to shake free from all of this mess (of their own making, primarily) and put a scare in opponents in the playoffs. LeBron James has earned that much respect.
That infinitesimal chance of contention is the only area where the Lakers have an advantage. The Cavs have been brilliant this season, playing at a rate significantly better than the Lakers. They are too young with too glaring a hole on the wing to realistically contend, but their floor is multiple stories higher than the Lakers.
What’s brilliant is that the Cavs’ core is all incredibly young, so the trajectory is pointed straight up from here. That doesn’t mean next season they will be the title favorites, but the future is bright. The Lakers? Not so much, with Westbrook and James aging and the cast of characters likely to turn over around them.
Evan Mobley isn’t LeBron James, and it’s not fair to rest those expectations on his slim shoulders. Yet he is the best prospect this team has had since LeBron, and if we are laying out title odds for the next five seasons…you have to give the advantage to the Cavs over LeBron. Unless, of course, those two become one once more.
For the first time since drafting LeBron James in 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a better team than wherever LeBron is playing. After years in the basement while James won in Miami and Los Angeles the time is now for the Cavs to show the league they can be something great.