To be clear, the idea did not come from one of the Cleveland Cavaliers executives, but rather, it came from an executive of a rival team, and, according to the suggestion, if they cannot resolve the Cavs’ woes, they must be willing to trade LeBron James, Kevin Love, and the Brooklyn Nets’ draft pick (via Boston Celtics).
“I think the pressure gets pretty high,” according to the executive who was not named in the post of Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. The executive added, “If it's not working, they should either move the [Nets] pick or Love or LeBron.
Those should all be on the table.”
No to LBJ trade
“Are we serious? Blow it up?” This was the reaction of FOX Sports analyst Chris Broussard upon learning of the suggestion. According to Broussard, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in this position a couple of seasons back and yet they managed to represent the East in the NBA Finals.
“Fourteen games in; you traded your second best player who’s a top 10, 15 player in the league, and the guy you got for him is not playing. You’re not gonna know who you are until Isaiah’s (Thomas) back,” the FOX Sports analysts added.
Broussard is right – it’s too early to tell whether the Cavaliers’ early blunder this season should result in trading LeBron James. First, Cavs fans have yet to see what Isaiah Thomas can do for the team, and that would happen possibly in January.
Second, Derrick Rose has shown flashes of his old self, and rim-protector Tristan Thompson is still out with injury.
Do-it-all
Yet the most important reason is that LeBron James is the best player on the team, easily one of the top 5 players in the league today. Ensuring another trip to the Eastern Conference Finals and possibly the NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers undeniably need the talent of LeBron James.
Here’s why:
According to ESPN Statistics, LeBron is currently 4th in scoring and in the assists department. Outside the top 5, LeBron is 8th in field goal percentage, 36th in rebounds (tied with Kristaps Porzingis and John Collins), and 21st in blocks (tied with Steven Adams and Pau Gasol) – stats that are dominated mostly by centers and power forwards.
Numbers don’t lie and this only proves that LeBron James is trying his best to turn the tide in favor of the Cleveland Cavaliers. When LeBron James returned to Cleveland during the 2014-15 NBA season, they even had a six-game losing skid (from Jan. 4 to Jan. 13, 2015) yet they still manage to barge into the NBA Finals.
Do not trade the Brooklyn pick
Broussard also believes that the Cleveland Cavaliers should not trade their Brooklyn Nets pick. This is some sort of protection should LeBron James decided to leave next season. How special could this draft pick be?
According to the 2017-18 NBA season prediction posted by ThirtyFiveEight.com, the Nets are projected to be one of the five teams who might end up with the worst NBA win-loss record this season.
This means a higher probability of landing one of the top prospects in the 2018 NBA Draft.
How deep is the next NBA Draft? Many NBA analysts believe that any of the top five prospects could end up being the overall pick, namely: DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Mohamed Bamba, Luka Doncic, and Michael Porter, Jr.
