The last time we were here, the last time it felt like LeBron James spurned Cleveland, the city responded with fire. His jerseys were ablaze on sidewalks across downtown and scorn in the hearts of betrayed Cavs fans.
This time it’s different. James didn’t do anything wrong. He owes Cleveland nothing after delivering a championship here in 2016. If you want to be mad this time, don’t be mad at LeBron. Be mad at the Cavs decision makers who made him their only plan of the summer.
LeBron is headed to Philadelphia, and the Cavs are left to pivot to … what, exactly? Team chairman Dan Gilbert wrote on social media after the New York Knicks swept them in the Eastern Conference finals that the Cavaliers were “nowhere near where we need to be.”
Two months later, their biggest offseason acquisition has been Meleek Thomas in the draft’s second round. Given what other teams are adding in a rapidly improving East, that conference finals appearance suddenly feels a bit empty.
There is a complicated, nuanced conversation to have regarding James. There were moves the Cavs could have made to perhaps lure him back, but who can fault them for not sacrificing the future of Evan Mobley for a one-year Giannis Antetokounmpo rental?
Jaylen Brown is different. Brown was widely available and is probably better than Mobley at this stage of their careers. The Cavs chose to hold firm and retain Mobley while the Sixers stole Brown from Boston.
We took a step ahead this spring, but we are nowhere near where we need to be. I can’t thank the fans enough for the support this year. We will dig in all summer and do everything we possibly can to take the next step. We will grind until we get there.
Congrats to the @nyknicks,…
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) May 26, 2026
I’m not advocating the Cavs should have made trades simply to appease a 41-year-old James, who isn’t the same player he was the last time he was in Cleveland. Brown, even if the rest of the league viewed his contract as a distressed asset, made sense for the Cavs regardless of James’ status simply because they have been wing deficient since James left for Los Angeles in 2018. Brown’s contract is up one year before Mobley, so it isn’t as if the Cavs would have been selling off their future like they would with an impending free agent such as Antetokounmpo.
I have been a staunch defender of Mobley since the Cavs drafted him and have long remained bullish on his potential. The organization has inadvertently set him up as the most polarizing player on the roster. He is entering his sixth season as a former All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year. He is a special defensive talent who continues to evolve offensively.
But he is not an elite talent within the game, the type of top 10 player who annually receives MVP votes. If he doesn’t emerge as one of the top players in the league next season, he will now be blamed for the Cavs not landing Antetokounmpo or Brown and, by extension, James.
It’s clear James chose the team he thought was best suited to win a championship immediately, and that meant he went to a team in the East other than Cleveland. That’s a chilling indictment on where the Cavs reside despite that conference finals appearance.
The Cavs remain wing deficient, just as they’ve been for the last eight years. Jonathan Kuminga remains an option. He might be the best they can do.
It has been a dizzying start for Sixers general manager Mike Gansey, the Cleveland native and former Cavs executive who has raced out to an early lead in the executive of the year race. In his first 50 days on the job, Gansey has now swiped three players that could have helped his old team, including Dean Wade. Snicker at Wade’s inclusion alongside Brown and James, but he is excellent defensively and can guard any position on the floor.
Gansey has long been revered as a highly respected executive in the NBA. He built excellent relationships across the league and within the Cavs. Bob Myers and the 76ers were wise to pluck him from Cleveland when they did, and he is delivering immediate results.
The Cavs made a compelling case for James to return, but ultimately it wasn’t good enough. That doesn’t make this 2010 again, when James devastated the city and departed for Miami. He cleaned that up when he returned the first time and delivered a championship. Both sides are square.
Whether acquiring James Harden at the trade deadline hurt the Cavs’ chances to pursue a third marriage with James will be discussed for years to come. Rich Paul, James’ agent, said on his podcast earlier this summer that not having Garland on the roster could hurt the Cavs’ chances of James returning. It seems a bit unfair to hold Harden against them, however, since Paul previously acknowledged that he told Garland, another of his Klutch clients, that this was likely going to be his last year in Cleveland. Paul got his wish when the Cavs swapped Garland for Harden despite Garland’s suppressed trade value. Harden’s presence, meanwhile, helped the Cavs advance as far as they did last year in the East.
Again, it’s a complicated, nuanced conversation with James and Cleveland. It usually is.
Nevertheless, add the Sixers to the list of teams that have surpassed the Cavs. Toronto could be next once the Kawhi Leonard trade gets sorted out.
The owner who demands action more than any other in this town told you the Cavs were nowhere near where they need to be.
Two months later, nothing has changed.