Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert might have to deal with losing LeBron James for a second time in free agency. When it initially happened in 2010, bad blood started to flow immediately as he wrote a public letter to James saying how he quit on the team and that the Cavs would win a title before him.
According to reports by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Gilbert believes that Cleveland can still create a championship team without James. This is something that will be hard to do on Gilbert’s part. Kevin Love could be on the trading block and playing in Cleveland simply isn’t a solid attraction without James playing there.
“Dan Gilbert believes that he can build a championship team without LeBron, and I think he is looking forward to trying,” said Windhorst. “I don’t think he necessarily wants it to be next year, but I think Dan Gilbert would like to make a run of it.”
In the team’s four years without James from 2010-2014, they missed the playoffs every season. From there, they were able to draft talent such as Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. If Cleveland still had Irving, then maybe they could still build a championship team to build around since they would still have a star left but now the challenge is harder as teams such as the Rockets, Spurs, Lakers, and Sixers are more attractive free agent destinations.
