With the dust settling on LeBron’s surprise decision to take his talents to his fourth team in Philadelphia, we’re starting to see why his last dance would be with the Sixers. Well, more than seeing why he decided to go to Philly, we’re seeing why he didn’t go anywhere else.
Cleveland appeared to be the frontrunner to land James for most of July. Both sportsbooks and prediction markets featured Cleveland within the top two teams nearly the entire waiting period, with Golden State and Miami also briefly having the top odds as well.
Now we know that most of that was a smokescreen from Rich Paul’s Klutch Agency. Cleveland and Miami were prohibitive favorites down the stretch, with Shams Charania and even Adam Schefter predicting moves to one of those destinations; however, LeBron’s decision actually came down to Philly and Golden State.
Both of LeBron’s former teams were shocked they weren’t picked for the last dance, and more than just astonishment, both organizations have to be filled with some level of embarrassment. They were strung along by James when they were never really in the running to begin with. Cleveland has been given the most detailed autopsy as to why they weren’t able to bring LeBron home, and the specifics make the move to Philly even more confusing.
When LeBron first decided he was no longer returning to Los Angeles, his biggest reasoning was to find happiness in his final destination. Maybe creating new business connections in a location close to New York is what makes him happy, but that reasoning led many to believe a return home would be in the cards. You can’t enter LeBron’s mind as to why this location makes him the happiest, but it more so felt like he was looking to team up with specific players that Cleveland and Miami didn’t have.
His next complaint of wanting the Cavs to make a move for Jaylen Brown has a multitude of issues. Boston was never shipping Brown to Cleveland without getting Evan Mobley back in the process. Mobley is a flawed player and hasn’t met the lofty expectations laid out for him, but Cleveland has continued to view him as a franchise pillar they were entirely unwilling to move.
Even if they were to trade him, a starting lineup of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Jarrett Allen would have one of the worst defenses we’ve ever seen in NBA history. And it wouldn’t have just been on defense; those five paired together would have little synergy on offense, a problem I foresee occurring for the Sixers this year as well.
Lastly, the most egregious reason from the Klutch team is that the Cavs no longer had Darius Garland. For the last two years, Rich Paul had asked for Cleveland to move Garland elsewhere, and they did that for him.
Cleveland moved on from Garland, a player who had become exceedingly unreliable, for another unreliable option in Harden. Nevertheless, Cleveland was finally able to get over the hump and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals by moving off of Garland.
I find it patently ridiculous that Paul requested that Garland be traded, then used that as leverage to remove Cleveland from the equation. If those are truly LeBron’s reasons for picking Philly, a lot of mended bridges between James and Cleveland have been burned back to the ground.
Not only should Cleveland feel scorned by this entire endeavor, but the entire league should be over the Klutch Agency. They put out completely fake news to hinder other Eastern Conference teams during the early stages of free agency, when they never had a real chance at LeBron.
This past season, the Cavs gave James a tribute video that led him to tears. While they will always be thankful for his championship run in 2016, I think the city has truly soured on him this time around. For now, Cleveland will be angry with LeBron, but in the future, I feel it won’t be anger, but apathy. One of the greatest players of all time has continued to make short-sighted moves for his legacy, all in the vein of trying to chase down Jordan in the win column. Unfortunately for LeBron, his legacy is now set, and he will never be looked at like Michael Jordan.
