If Lebron's decision was to stay in Cleveland

[richboy]

What do you think the league would have been like if Lebron had stayed in the Cavaliers. Just answer these questions?

1. Who faces in the finals the last 3 years?
2. Who wins the championship the last 3 years?
3. What is Bosh and Wade doing on the Heat?
4. What is Lebron and the Cavs doing

[AshyLarry]

funny you made this thread as i was about to make a similar one.

1. i think cleveland would eventually win a title or two, with lebron playing his heart out.
2. yeah even if bosh teamed up with wade, they would only be effective for a year or so seeing as wade declined a lot these past few years and is still frequently injured.
3. like him or hate him, any team that has LBJ will be a contender. the east has been weakened so bad this past few years cleveland would have won the east fairly easy (only CHI) would have given them a fight, boston is on its way out, the west also got weaker, so i yeah i think he would have won one in cleveland.

[Andddyyy]

Dallas over Chicago
OKC over Indy

Cavs finally add the right pieces and the chemistry is there and they take it this year, Lebron sheds the choke label finally.

[An Unbiased Fan]

2011 - Bulls win title
2012 - OKC win title
2013 - Grizzlies win title

[TheChosen618]

2011 Finals - Bulls vs. Mavericks - Mavericks win
2012 Finals - Cavs vs. Thunder - Thunder win

I think the Cavs would obviously still be great. You can put Lebron on any team and that team is automatically a contender due to how great of a player he is.

I think Lebron would have eventually won a ring. It is just that he wouldn't win a lot and it would take a while.

The Heat would be great in their first season together, but then after that I think they fall apart primarily because of Wade's decline/injury issues.

[XtotheDeezy]

I don't think he would've taken his game to this current level if he hadn't gone through the social turmoil that 'The Decision' brought on him.

2011: Mavs def. Bulls
2012: Thunder def. Pacers

Bosh and Wade might make it to the ECF in 2011, but otherwise I see them as 2nd round exits.

Cleveland would be good, but not win a title or make the finals.

[tidho]

Its tough to say because as he was leaving Cleveland was on the cusp of having a ton of cap flexibility. Part of Cleveland's recruiting issues were that players didn't believe he was committed to the Cavaliers - but that would have vanished if he'd resigned. Chances were pretty good he'd have gotten enough help.

All that said, LeBron is much better now than he was in Cleveland. I don't know if he had to move to become what he is, or it would have happened anywhere with maturity.

Chances are, if he stayed they'd be taking home a title this season.

[jc23]

why was it so hard to get better talent to come play with lebron in cleveland? was it the location or just bad timing?

[TheChosen618]

why was it so hard to get better talent to come play with lebron in cleveland? was it the location or just bad timing?

Dumb front-office from what it seems like. They never got any good draft picks during his time.

[OhMyBosh]

why was it so hard to get better talent to come play with lebron in cleveland? was it the location or just bad timing?

The front office could never add quality pieces. Whenever they had a little bit of cap space, their incompetence led to Larry Hughes signings and Antawn Jamison trades.

[Froob]

mavs over bulls
celtics over thunder
bosh and wade decent team but not winning any champiomship
lebron probably wins one eventually in cleveland

[Voice_of_Reason]

I personally think LeBron would not have reached his current level of play if he stayed in Cleveland. Not knowing a heap before he moved, he seems to have a much wiser head now, and is more methodical in his approach.

The 2011 season may the most important season in the birth of one of the greatest players of all time. The two seasons following have been incredible, and he looks to be getting even better.

It would be hard to know how Cleveland would have gone if he had stayed, there wouldn't be the young talent there, and history shows no big time FA moved there. Possibly no big time FA wanted to go there because they knew it was LeBron's team and LeBron's town. And the only players willing, we're not going to live in Clevland after being in Miami and Toronto for the last 7 years of their lives...

2011, Chicago would of won and 2012 OKC.

[xStanton27]

ITs tough to say where Miami would be, we wouldn't know what Riley could attract with another max contract available

[cinnister]

I think everything is drastically different had boozer actually stayed in cleveland. I don't know if they win a title but i think the only thing cle really lacked was a consistent 2nd option...outside of people saying cle is a sucky city, I think its crazy to think no one would go play with lebron on a team that was already piled high with good role players.

[ropjhk]

Miami would have used the money spent on Lebron to surround Wade and Bosh with better role players. They would still be contenders and possible finalists. Bosh would be a 25ppg scorer and perhaps the Heat's MVP. Who knows, maybe Dwight joins Lebron in Cleveland and they form a dynasty there? I think the Bulls could have beaten the Mavs, but the 2011 Cavs may have been able to beat the 2011 Bulls. The Cavs were really really close to being a championship team, and 2011 may have been that year.

Lebron's decision changed the landscape of the NBA and brought us into a new era.

[Reservoirdawgs]

Lebron's decision changed the landscape of the NBA and brought us into a new era.

I agree that the decision changed the landscape, but not that the era began with the decision, but rather with the Celtics forming their Big 3.

[theshad]

why was it so hard to get better talent to come play with lebron in cleveland? was it the location or just bad timing?

The front office could never add quality pieces. Whenever they had a little bit of cap space, their incompetence led to Larry Hughes signings and Antawn Jamison trades.

That was partially it, it was also partially Lebron's fault. Since he went to Miami he has been actively making pitches for players to come join him down there. When he was with Cleveland he refused to make commitments to the franchise while not telling anyone what his plans were come his free agency. I believe it was Ray Allen years ago that said when he was a free agent if Lebron asked him to come to Cleveland he would have, but Lebron was simply silent about it so he re-signed with the Celtics I think, my timeline might be messed up somewhere.

The Antawn Jamison trade at the time wasn't thought to be incompetent at all, they were considered to be easy champions, turns out Jamison wasn't nearly as good as he seemed, though he did turn out to be an amazing tank driver.

But yeah missing on draft picks and then trading away whatever draft picks you had to overpay for old veterans is not a way to win a championship.

[Time4War]

Butterfly Effect

[guy1]

Assuming the Baron Davis + Kyrie Irving pick for Mo Williams still goes down:

Finals
2011 - Celtics over Mavs
2012 - Thunder over Mavs
2013 - Cavs over Spurs

MVP
2011 - Rose
2012 - Durant
2013 - Lebron

Heat
2011 - (4th seed) Lose to Bulls (1st seed) in ECSF
2012 - (4th seed) Lose to Celtics (5th seed) in 1st round
2013 - (3rd seed) Lose to Bulls (6th seed) in 1st round

Cavs
2011 - (3rd seed) Lose to Celtics (2nd seed) in ECSF
2012 - (2nd seed) Lose to Celtics (5th seed) in ECF
2013 - (1st seed) Wins over Spurs (2nd seed) in Finals

[GeneralNbaFan]

2011: Mavs over Bulls
2012: Miami over OKC
2013: Miami over Grizzlies

Miami would be Wades team. Bosh the 2nd option.
Wade = 2009 Wade and Bosh=Raptors Bosh. and many other good players.
The east would be between Cleveland/Miami/Chicago