The Cleveland Cavaliers silenced the critics with one of the strongest performances of the Kenny Atkinson era. Even with James Harden having another disappearing act in a Game 7, the Cavs still led the Detroit Pistons by as many as 33 points in a road win that was never close.
Donovan Mitchell has now finally gotten past the second round of the playoffs, and the Cavaliers are back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in the post-LeBron James era. They have a tough challenge against a well-rested New York Knicks team ahead, but they still have reasons to celebrate.
Nevertheless, this might also lead to an unfortunate ripple effect with LeBron James, who would most likely be strongly tied to the Cavaliers in free agency. Now that they've made this deep postseason run, that may no longer be the case.
The Cavs may not want to pursue LeBron James anymore
LeBron James will be a free agent for the first time in eight years. He may no longer be at the peak of his powers, but he just proved that he can still put a team on his shoulders when it matters the most, at least in the first round.
He would likely be a strong upgrade to the Cavs' core, but since they've already made it this far without him, they may not want to disrupt the current team's chemistry by adding another high-character guy who needs the ball in his hands to be at his best.
Also, LeBron James never comes alone. Signing him always comes with his brass, plenty of outside attention, and whichever team signs him always ends up making several moves to accommodate the roster to his needs. Koby Altman might not want to do that after his team reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
Moreover, James might not want to be seen as a front-runner again. He's always faced criticism for jumping ship when things get hard to join a team with a more favorable situation, and while that's what everybody does in their line of work, the fans use it against NBA players to look down on their legacies.
Of course, the Cavs would still rather make a trip to the NBA Finals over getting LeBron James back every day of the week; they can't make decisions on this year's playoffs based on whether they should bring him back or not. That said, this success might've altered the curse of their offseason.
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