3 reasons return of LeBron James to Cavs again in 2023 would be great
By John Suchan
When you hear the name LeBron James, fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have a variety of reactions. Some fans love him, and others don’t care much for him after he’s left town twice. And now in the whispers around the NBA and the rumor mill, we are starting to hear that maybe, just maybe James would consider a closing act on his stellar NBA career and return to where it all started.
Recently, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has again suggested that maybe James and the Cavs would consider another reunion in the future, with next offseason as a possibility via unrestricted free agency it seems. Windhorst did not make it seem as if James is planning on a return once again, but he did mention how Cleveland is currently well-positioned to have a bunch of cap space next summer, albeit with that a ways off.
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Additionally, James could potentially just choose to sign a contract extension with the Lakers soon, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic (subscription required) reported how Cleveland is “not proceeding with the intention” of James coming back again. But Windhorst’s comments were noteworthy, and with the ties James has to the Cavs, if he is a free agent next summer, it would definitely be possible, one would have to think.
A lot of things would have to fall into place for such a move but the possibility will exist moving forward it seems, if James doesn’t sign an extension with L.A. soon. There are so many reasons that this type of move by James and Cleveland would make a lot of sense. While the Cavs are building a great team at the moment, adding back a player that has literally had a permanent stay in the NBA Finals would be great for the team.
Let’s take a look at these 3 reasons a return of LeBron James to the Cavaliers once again would be fantastic!
Reason No. 1 to have James return to Cleveland: A return to contention
The Cavs have done a nice job of reloading their team roster these last few seasons after James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers. The nucleus of young talent including Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen can’t be undersold. It’s got the team back in contention and is one of the exciting stories of the NBA right now.
Now, we’d have to see as to how things could change if James were to come back again within the roster/cap outlook, however, overall in this sense, the team got to within a game of making it to the playoffs last season and will certainly be vying for a better conference seeding this next season. The team will likely be able to maintain its rising success over the next several seasons with this core of talent and that is very exciting considering how low this franchise had fallen each time James left town.
That first time he left back in 2010 with” The Decision” he bolted to the beaches of Miami and his former team floundered around in his absence. When James returned to Cleveland in 2014 after his Heat tenure, the team excelled once again, culminating in the team winning the NBA Title in 2016.
Some contend now that the team has built a solid framework from the ground up in this latest period since James left and would be better off not having James return to Cleveland another time. The argument goes that if he did return the team would regress and not be as an unselfish team as they present themselves to be at the moment. In other words, it would upset the apple cart and ruin a nice thing the Cavaliers already have going.
While I agree that the team has made enormous progress and could eventually contend for NBA titles, if James wanted to return and end his career here, where it once started, this team would be much closer to those title chances.
James helped win the 2016 NBA Title and I believe it was probably one of his favorite moments of his career. Maybe winning a second title in Cleveland wouldn’t be as memorable or maybe it would? We’ll discuss that point in a moment. Let’s now focus on what James would be able to do if he did return to the Cavaliers in 2023.