The defending world champion Cavaliers made a spectacular comeback in the NBA Finals last year, roaring back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Warriors, and becoming the first time in league history to ever accomplish the feat.
Now the two teams are squaring off in the Finals for the third consecutive season, but with the addition of Kevin Durant, this Warriors team is almost unfair to play against, due to the mismatches they create.
So to combat that, will the Cavs consider moving on from the Big 3 and possibly create a superteam of their own? It’s certainly possible, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com.
Haynes appeared on “The Jim Rome Show” on Monday and shared some interesting tidbits, none of which we had really heard before. With the Cavaliers currently facing a 2-0 series deficit in the NBA Finals, Haynes said that the team could pursue Carmelo Anthony and/or Chris Paul in the offseason if Cleveland loses the series in four or five games.
“LeBron James has made it known, that while he’s in Cleveland, he put the onus on management and ownership to give him a roster that could compete for championships year after year,” he said on the show. “It’s not going to be good enough for LeBron to just make it to the Finals every year, because they will do that. There’s nobody in the East that can contend with them that could mess with them. Nobody.
“But Bron’s not going to be happy about that, so if the Warriors are to get this series over within four or five, I would expect Cleveland to make some moves,” Haynes added. “What is that move? I don’t know, because there’s always been talk about Chris Paul and LeBron James teaming up at some point, but I just don’t know if the chemistry fits with them. Obviously they’re smart guys and they probably could make it work and play at some high of a level, but those are two ball-dominant players and will it work with Kyrie Irving as well?
“I don’t know if it would work, but I know that they were talking at the trade deadline,” he said, referencing Carmelo Anthony. “Those talks definitely could resurface, because it’s at this point if the Cavaliers feel like all they could do is get to the Eastern Conference Finals, then why not kick the tires on a Carmelo-Kevin Love swap and just see what could happen. Because I guess they feel like with Kevin or with Carmelo, they could advance to the Finals. Now, they don’t know what they can do with Carmelo, I think they have a pretty good idea with Kevin Love.”
Let’s be honest: The Cavs aren’t getting swept. Everyone looks at the margin of victory from the first two games — 41 points combined — but it was actually slightly larger last year, and Cleveland went on to win the series. The overreactions are ridiculous, and I personally believe the Cavs are going to win Game 3 on Wednesday night. The Cavs should be able to use the home crowd to slow down and muddy up the game a bit, not allowing the Warriors to dictate the run-and-gun tempo like they’re known to do at Oracle Arena.
Still, with that said, the Warriors have a 29-1 record dating back to March, and that’s ridiculous. It is possible that the Warriors win Games 4 and 5, and if that’s the case, the Cavs should consider fighting fire with fire and forming a superteam. Otherwise, Paul might land with a team like the Spurs, who, also, would have the makings of a superteam.
As it relates to superteams, this old saying rings true: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” If the Cavs do end up losing the series in four or five games, they should consider mixing things up and pairing LBJ with his buddies Anthony and/or Paul. It makes too much sense not to happen, and could help shift the balance of power away from the Warriors going forward.
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