Was the King leaving the castle and taking his talents to South Beach a break for the Cleveland Cavaliers? Cleveland fans are probably ready to call the guys in the white coats to come and get me for suggesting such nonsense. In the three seasons since Lebron James left for the Miami Heat, they have been the best team in the NBA while the Cavs have been non-existent come playoff time. But let us think back to how the Cavs got King James in the first place. They got him because they stunk. They got him because they won the NBA Draft Lottery. The year he left, they stunk again. And again, won the draft lottery. And they parlayed that pick into point guard Kyrie Irving.

In Irving, the Cavaliers have a piece. Since James left for Miami, we have had a lockout and a new CBA which without going into too much detail, has made it very difficult going forward to have three “pieces” to build a title winning team. Going forward it will be a lot of “two-piece” teams trying to compete for titles. The NBA Championships will be won by the team who has the best player and also does the best job of filling out the rest of the roster.

So try this out for size…Lebron James wins two to three titles in Miami and then scoots back to the Cavs to team up with Irving. You laugh now, but this could happen. Dwayne Wade is getting older and let’s be honest, with the new rules in place, Miami won’t be able to replace him. A James-Chris Bosh led Heat will still be competitive, but if you could team up with Irving instead, why wouldn’t you? Lebron has never ruled out a return to Cleveland. Truth be told, he is a decent guy who probably really feels bad for the city that once worshiped him. The big question here is can the city of Cleveland ever welcome him back and also can he ever play for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert who was  like a jilted lover being left for a new one?

James has one more year after this one left in Miami. Should the Heat win two more titles it would be difficult to walk away from a chance to go for four in a row. But let’s say the Heat wins this year and comes up short next year. Let’s say Wade is on the decline and it looks as if the Heat might have to part ways with him in order to keep Lebron. Suddenly teaming up with Irving looks pretty good.

If Lebron has designs on coming back to the Cavs to win titles, he should do it as soon as possible. He probably has about four to five peak seasons left before he starts to decline himself. If he spends all of those in Miami, then comes back to Cleveland and is unable to deliver a title, he may be an even bigger villain in his home state than he is already. Nobody wants that.

If James comes back to town to team up with one of the game’s best young point guards in Irving, Cavs fans need to remember what made it possible in the first place. It was Lebron breaking their hearts that landed them Kyrie Irving. And it would be Irving that would entice King James to return.

 

,