Preservation. This is huge for James’ long term health in the league. Since 2010, LeBron has played in 381 games in the NBA including the postseason. Ever since Dwayne Wade hasn’t been quite healthy, the Heat have relied on LeBron to put the team on his back and carry the load. His minutes in the regular season have risen each season since 2011. Sounds similar to the teams he played for in Cleveland?
Pat Riley has signed two pieces for the Heat, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger. Granger was an All-Star about 5 years ago and is past his prime. McRoberts is a solid contributor that can stretch the floor (poor man’s Chris Bosh), but nothing more than a 2nd unit player.
The Heat, however, failed to attract enough help for LeBron so far. They couldn’t lure Kyle Lowry away from Raptors, who would have been a major upgrade. With those additions, I can’t see Riley bringing in enough talent to let LeBron rest during the regular season.
Enter the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs recently signed Kyrie Irving, their franchise point guard, to a five year extension. Andrew Wiggins, widely regarded as the top prospect in his NBA Draft Class for two years, will enter into his rookie deal for what it seems to be five years as well. Did you forget they drafted him for a moment? This guarantees LeBron, barring any injuries, two YOUNG players to take the load off his back.
One remarkable thing the Cavaliers have done, without much attention, is acquire multiple draft picks and favorable contracts. Next season they will have their own first round pick, Miami’s first rounder if they fall out of the first round, and also the Memphis Grizzlies’ if theirs falls between 6 and 14. In addition to these picks, Brandon Haywood possesses a contract that can open up even more cap space in 2015. His contract is worth $2.2 million in 2014 and an unguaranteed $10.5 million in 2015. The Cavaliers have until August 1st, 2015 to decide whether to pick up his option. Surely, they won’t. However, this does bring a low post defender in this season. The Cavaliers also have Dion Waiters to lead their 2nd unit and a scoring punch off the bench.
After analyzing this, returning to Cleveland would take pressure off of LeBron to be the absolute playmaker that he was for the Cavs his first 7 years and the past 4 in Miami. He won’t take breaks on defense or anything due to his competitive nature, but can rest even more during the regular season. Kobe Bryant, for example, has had a drastic decline. He simply has played too much and his body can’t take a full season anymore. Yes, Kobe is as competitive as they come, but he never rested.
I recently talked to an anonymous doctor from Cleveland and he described what happens when an athlete doesn’t rest and overuses muscles. He said, “basically when the tendon starts separating from the bone, it can result in bone spurs. The muscles itself will be fine because it has good blood supply, but the ligaments and tendons don’t get sufficient blood supply. When you play sports those get stretched and need to repair. It takes longer for them to repair because the tendons and ligaments don’t have a large enough blood supply.”
LeBron’s camp wants to protect him not only off the court, but also on it. One of the best ways to protect him on the court is to surround him with talent so his body won’t decline as drastically as Kobe’s did. Cleveland would be the best option to preserve his body.
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