this Cavs squad may not ever win a title, I've accepted that.
but the JBB era has been much more fun to watch as a unit then LeBron's second tour of Cleveland.

LeBron is a certified GOAT, a much more interesting player than most of the players in that conversation, and a much rarer one. I think going forward, depending on how Giannis pans out we may never see anything close to that.

But once he got cooking as a talent, you traded off that greatness with incredible lows when that team fell off (or his energy was depleted). losses in that 2017-18 season that was the last before he went to LA were TOXIC environments. the locker room was a fucking mess often. it took the random pair of Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye to pull the team together.

from a basketball perspective: LeBron + shooters heliocentric offense as the league moved toward "Pee Pee Ball" offense had a shelf life (Luka and em should be careful continuing that legacy in Dallas). you see what it is in LA right now without the right personnel.

I write this because that Pistons win and some others this season have highlighted some basketball differences that I thought I'd never see.

First of all, Kevin Love. We know what he is as far as defense is concerned. Under LeBron, he was converted to a spot up shooter. To Love's credit he became awesome at that. Post-LeBron, it looked like he was gonna ride that contract out to immense frustration until he found amazing life off the bench.

NOW, he's moving more like he did in Minnesota with the playmaking and off-ball movement. And he's still a tremendous 3-point shooter. All of this could have been possible under LeSystem, and it was even said in offseasons past that it would be a focus. Never happened until now.

Caris LeVert is looking more like his Nets self, less a herky-jerky ballhandler but a guy who can show some multi-positional versatility, even on defense. This was what the Cavs were hoping for when they traded the Rubio contract to get some semblance of creation.

Under JBB, they reversed the "Kevin Love" situation with Lauri Markkanen, brought from the Bulls to be a spot-up shooter, and made a guy who could play either forward position, plus improved his shooting.

Still stings he got traded, because after FIBA (just like Rubio in the Olympics), Lauri is killing it with the Jazz.

It's this kind of transformative property and versatility that has me optimistic about this team's ability to compete. Something that people thought would be impossible after 2018.

Having a front office that actually is competent also helps (something we didn't have with LeBron 2003-09, particularly the first 3 years).

This afternoon, Cavs face LeBron and the Lakers, who have been stringing together some decent basketball.

Hope Darius and Donovan get to play this one.