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What If It Didn't All Come Apart?

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Steve_424

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I know there are too many what-ifs for anyone to know for sure, but does anyone else think about what might have been with the Cavs?

What if LeBron had committed to finishing his career here, and what if Kyrie didn't get weird and committed as well? What kind of team would we have now? Would we have won another ring by now? What if KD never signed with Golden State in the first place?

I'm so incredibly thankful for our title, but man...it should've been even more.
 
I know there are too many what-ifs for anyone to know for sure, but does anyone else think about what might have been with the Cavs?

What if LeBron had committed to finishing his career here, and what if Kyrie didn't get weird and committed as well? What kind of team would we have now? Would we have won another ring by now? What if KD never signed with Golden State in the first place?

I'm so incredibly thankful for our title, but man...it should've been even more.

I'm not the biggest Bill Simmons fan, but this 90+ minute recap of the 2016 title with Windy goes through some of those "what if" scenarios. Definitely worth a listen!

 
I know there are too many what-ifs for anyone to know for sure, but does anyone else think about what might have been with the Cavs?

What if LeBron had committed to finishing his career here, and what if Kyrie didn't get weird and committed as well? What kind of team would we have now? Would we have won another ring by now? What if KD never signed with Golden State in the first place?

I'm so incredibly thankful for our title, but man...it should've been even more.

I think that’s a little like asking, “What if scorpions didn’t sting?”

Scorpions sting. It’s what they do. LeBron creates drama and plays with his friends where he wants. Kyrie is weird. The Warriors get lucky. Our luck is limited. It’s the nature of the world. If you try to imagine an alternate universe, your head will explode.
 
I know there are too many what-ifs for anyone to know for sure, but does anyone else think about what might have been with the Cavs?

What if LeBron had committed to finishing his career here, and what if Kyrie didn't get weird and committed as well? What kind of team would we have now? Would we have won another ring by now? What if KD never signed with Golden State in the first place?

I'm so incredibly thankful for our title, but man...it should've been even more.


It was a fun listen. Thanks for pointing it out.

A couple of interesting points. Maybe they are well known but I did not know them. Windy thought that Igoudala was trying to avoid JR on the block because he had just missed two free throws earlier in the quarter.

Also LeBron pointed to Kyrie in the huddle during the TO before the shot. If Kyrie had missed it people would have gotten on Lebron for not having the Manga mentality even though Kyrie was clearly the better basketball option.

I hope LeBron wins one more before he retires.
 
2017 and 2018 were both hopeless thanks to Coward.

2019 would have been our next chance, and probably would have won again.
 
The what-ifs make me sad, there's so many of them.

2015 - what if Kyrie's knee didn't explode and Olynyk didn't rip Love's arm out of socket? We probably beat Golden State in 5 instead of losing in 6.
2016 - yay, we won something for the first time in most of our lives.
2017/18 - what if Draymond didn't cry to KD in the parking lot like a little bitch? We win at least one of those two titles those seasons, even if Kyrie leaves us in 2017-18.
2019 - what if LeBron hangs around with Love and we end up trading that Sexton pick for a guy like Kemba? Toronto probably doesn't go all in for Kawhi if LBJ is still in the East, and then we probably win the finals when KD and Klay get injured.

Then there's the player things.

What if Kyrie wasn't a douche? What if LBJ would've stayed? What if Isaiah showed up and returned to Boston-MVP levels? What if Tristan never dated a Kardashian?

Half a decade of time, and still so so so many what-ifs? It's crazy.
 
Oh boys the what if’s. If the refs don’t clearly call game 1 of the 2015 finals for the Warriors, and we never go to overtime, because the game is called fairly, and Kyrie doesn’t get hurt. That, and Love getting assaulted are the two biggest ones. Back to back champions.

what if the league had a spine, and hadn’t let the cap double in a season. Three peat. What if Kyrie doesn’t demand out, and LeBron doesn’t leave. Maybe 5 in a row? What if we trade for Leanord, or Davis?

Miss you guys, but I don’t have cable anymore, and streaming always annoyed me. All the losing, and quite frankly Durant ruined the NBA for me. I won’t give the league a dollar.
 
The what-ifs make me sad, there's so many of them.

2015 - what if Kyrie's knee didn't explode and Olynyk didn't rip Love's arm out of socket? We probably beat Golden State in 5 instead of losing in 6.
2016 - yay, we won something for the first time in most of our lives.
2017/18 - what if Draymond didn't cry to KD in the parking lot like a little bitch? We win at least one of those two titles those seasons, even if Kyrie leaves us in 2017-18.
2019 - what if LeBron hangs around with Love and we end up trading that Sexton pick for a guy like Kemba? Toronto probably doesn't go all in for Kawhi if LBJ is still in the East, and then we probably win the finals when KD and Klay get injured.

Then there's the player things.

What if Kyrie wasn't a douche? What if LBJ would've stayed? What if Isaiah showed up and returned to Boston-MVP levels? What if Tristan never dated a Kardashian?

Half a decade of time, and still so so so many what-ifs? It's crazy.

I always joke if that we want to do what-ifs, beyond even the oft-mentioned draft blunders like Trajan Langdon over Amare, we could go back to allowing the Hornets to claim Del Curry.

If Steph then grows up wanting to play with LeBron, does he find a way? He would also be wayyyy more likeable if he never met Ayesha.
 
The what-ifs make me sad, there's so many of them.

2015 - what if Kyrie's knee didn't explode and Olynyk didn't rip Love's arm out of socket? We probably beat Golden State in 5 instead of losing in 6.
2016 - yay, we won something for the first time in most of our lives.
2017/18 - what if Draymond didn't cry to KD in the parking lot like a little bitch? We win at least one of those two titles those seasons, even if Kyrie leaves us in 2017-18.
2019 - what if LeBron hangs around with Love and we end up trading that Sexton pick for a guy like Kemba? Toronto probably doesn't go all in for Kawhi if LBJ is still in the East, and then we probably win the finals when KD and Klay get injured.

Then there's the player things.

What if Kyrie wasn't a douche? What if LBJ would've stayed? What if Isaiah showed up and returned to Boston-MVP levels? What if Tristan never dated a Kardashian?

Half a decade of time, and still so so so many what-ifs? It's crazy.

The what ifs also make me sad. It seems like the cloud of Golden State lifted right after LeBron left for LA. That hurts. To think that even if Kyrie doesnt stay, that they could have gotten someone else to pair with LeBron and possibly stayed in title contention. To think about Paul George being so close to being a Cav. To think about, how in true Cleveland style, every guy that we brought in as a rebuild project (D Rose, IT, etc) totally busted for us when it seems like those projects work perfectly with LeBron on other teams (a la Dwight Howard).

What gives me peace is the knowledge that LBJ and Gilbert really did not get along, ad that it's a damn miracle that LJ came back after Gilbert trashed him, and that Kyrie made the Celtics and the Nets worse - and that makes me feel better that it just wasnt meant to last. We sort of caught lightning in a bottle and at some point it was going to explode and burn our faces off.
 
Could have added Cedi and Porter JR to LeBron, Kevin and Kyrie. That's interesting
 
There are a bunch of what ifs but the one that always sticks with me was floated once by Brian Windhorst, I believe.

Either Kyrie or Love don't get hurt and Cavs win in 2015.

They lose in 2016 since the Warriors are hungrier. Durant can't come to GS.

Cavs win in 2017.

That's 2 titles in 3 years, and who knows what 2018 could have been with Durant not in GS.

But it assumes Kyrie isn't such a strange fucking person. Considering he reportedly considered asking for a trade after the title in 2016, he may every well have done so after a loss that year, especially if he had been healthy for the 2015 title (I suppose if he was hurt but Love was healthy and the Cavs won that first year, he might want to hang around for a title).

Kyrie's aloofness kind of ruins all of the what ifs for me - which is a good thing, since they are so sad. It's one thing for a what if to hinge on Olynyk not pulling out Love's shoulder, or game one of the 2015 finals not going to overtime. It's entirely different for it to hinge on a weird ass dude being normal. Being aloof is as much a part of Kyrie as being a passive aggressive basketball genius is to Lebron. It is what it is.

On that note, what if the Cavs did whatever they could to get Kemba for Kyrie instead of IT after the 2017 season? Before his trade request, they explored at least one trade option for a superstar - so they may have known something. Was a Kemba swap even possible then?
 

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