This Latest NBA Finals Loss Could Lead LeBron James to Join the Boston Celtics
For the second time out of his nine trips to the NBA Finals, LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by a vastly superior team.
Back when it first happened in 2007, James and the Cavaliers lost in resounding fashion to the San Antonio Spurs. This time around, James and the Cavaliers were swept aside by the powerhouse Golden State Warriors.
James getting swept is a rare sight, and it surely will not sit well with him to think that the Cavaliers had a golden opportunity to win Game 1, but an untimely blunder robbed them of that. From there, who knows what could've happened. Maybe the Warriors would trounce them over the next four games anyway, or maybe the Cavaliers would've been emboldened by their win and push their rivals to the brink.
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The one thing that is sure is that James will do all that he can to ensure that the ending of his next season will not be similar to this year's.
In doing so, James may soon find himself entertaining thoughts about playing for the Boston Celtics.
ESPN's Chris Haynes recently dropped by "The TK Show" hosted by The Athletic's Tim Kawakami to discuss James' upcoming free agency.
While talking about potential destinations for James, Haynes urges listeners not to overlook the Celtics.
On paper, a move to Boston makes all the sense in the world for James.
The Celtics' roster is loaded with talented young players such as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier who excel on both ends of the floor, and those are precisely the players best equipped to compete with the Warriors' core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
Even Celtics center Al Horford is the type of big man who can hold his own against the Warriors' relentless offensive attack.
As The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks pointed out in a recent article, James could easily make his way to Boston if he first opts into his option for next year and then asks for a trade to the Celtics. The Celtics would then send Gordon Hayward, Marcus Morris and a first round pick to make the deal work from a financial standpoint and to give the Cavaliers new players to add to their core.
Now, in that scenario, there's still one major stumbling block, and that's Kyrie Irving being on the Celtics.
It's still unclear how much James factored into Irving's decision to ask for a trade from the Cavaliers last year, so asking them to team up could cause tension to build up inside the locker room.
Still, whatever differences James and Irving may have could probably be resolved, especially if them working together can produce a championship.
Over the next few weeks, the sting of this latest loss in the NBA Finals and his overall record in the championship series dropping to 3-6 is going to stick with James, but he will have his shot at redemption, and it could come while he is leading the Celtics.
