Lee Jenkins broke the story of LeBron’s return but what happens now? The madness might just be starting.
David Blatt’s been on one hell of a run. A triple crown with Maccabi, he lands a NBA job (seriously good hustle once again), the team he lands with wins the lottery and lands Andrew Wiggins, wins a bunch of coach of the year awards for work with his old team, and now…now he’s got the best player in the game on his new team.
Yeah, yeah it’s really good to be David Blatt right now.
The East is so open that it’s hardly implausible, even with a team that was pure factory of sadness last year, that Blatt takes the conference in his first season. Outside of the Pacers, is there any team in that conference you feel truly confident about taking Cleveland (and I almost wrote Miami there) in a series with a healthy LeBron James plus friends? There are plenty of options in the West, the Spurs, Warriors, Clippers, Thunder, and Rockets are teams I’d flat out favour against them right now. That’s ignoring a handful of other teams who are better than any other opponent out East, bar Indiana, that could take down the Cavs roster over seven games. You don’t need me to tell you that only one of these teams from the West could potentially end LeBron’s season.
Free agency is about to go to another level. Melo has options and remains the biggest prize on the board. Dwayne Wade is damaged goods but can still be a serious piece in the right scenario. That comes with the massive proviso that Wade will be willing to take the pay cut required for him to be that piece. Then there’s the far from small matter of Chris Bosh.
The Rockets have, roughly, 48 hours to get Bosh. The Chandler Parsons scenario has accelerated that situation, to the point that I’m rushing this piece out in the fear that the Bosh deal could be done within hours. Then there’s the Kevin Love scenario. Is he still in play for Cleveland? Do they want him to stay in play?
LeBron, more than any other player, has ground free agency to a halt. Now the race is on to shape the NBA next season. Right now I’m betting on one thing, whatever Blatt wants to happen will happen.
Finally a quick note for any Cavs fans checking in. Get ready for a whole lot of unexpected victories. David Blatt is a great coach but, man, has he made a habit of those. The Twitter-insanity is over, the real mania has only just begun.
