Replace LeBron with ____, do the cavs go over the top?

[jongib369]

Can the cavs beat the Warriors with LeBron replaced with one of these players? Also, what do you imagine that players stats would be given the same "usage %" LeBron had these finals

Kobe
Jordan
Wilt
Shaq
Kareem
Hakeem
Oscar
Magic
Bird
Baylor
Or whoever you think of

[Rose'sACL]

Bigs are out of contention for obvious reason of no ball handler on the cavs other than lebron.
Jordan might win a couple games. may be 3 at most. that is it.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Jordan would be different.. They would definitely double him constantly, but he'd still probably score 40, but I doubt he sets up his teammates as much despite the doubles. Either way, GSW wins

[BlackWhiteGreen]

No, I don't think any player wins with that roster. But that doesn't mean Bron is better than them

[navy]

I think a big could do it if they straight up dominated Bogut/Draymond Green.

You would have to live with Delly bringing up the ball though. Which would be disastrous for stretches.

[Monolith]

Doubt the Cavs would win regardless but there is no way the Warriors would get away with giving MJ/Kobe single coverage the whole series. Also, I suppose you could put MJ on an island against Steph and limit the open shots the rest of the the team gets but that would cause him to exert a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball so I don't know how well that would work out.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Do you have Baylor in your top 10?

[iamgine]

How about '93 Barkley? He can sort handle the ball decently and had the size to punish GSW if they went to small ball so they'd have to go big all the time.

[navy]

How about '93 Barkley? He can sort handle the ball decently and had the size to punish GSW if they went to small ball so they'd have to go big all the time.
Yeah, he might be able to do it. Might attack him defensively though. But he could assume alot ofplay making play making other bigs couldn't.

[Harison]

Since we need to pick with ball handling skills, Jordan and likely Bird could have beaten the GSW.

FIVE games there very close and only one blow-out by GSW. Lebron is nowhere near as good in the clutch as MJ/Bird (not in these Finals anyway), and they could have won an extra game or two just in the clutch.

Add the fact MJ is much better defender than Lebron, doesnt waste possessions and would set up teammates better. If GSW would leave him 1v1 like they did Lebron, I dont even want to speculate how badly Jordan would abuse GSW, and at good FG%.

So yes, prime Jordan would had won the series, and Bird likely too, or made series closer.

[Andrei89]

Shaq would give Golden State so much freaking trouble man

[Marchesk]

Rick Barry :confusedshrug:

[iamgine]

Shaq would give any team so much freaking trouble man
fixed

[JohnMax]

Westbrook
Durant
CP3
Griffin

All of them play better when they're by themselves

[Andrei89]

Westbrook
Durant
CP3
Griffin

All of them play better when they're by themselves

WOW :facepalm

Especially for Griffin and Cp3:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

[stanlove1111]

Can the cavs beat the Warriors with LeBron replaced with one of these players? Also, what do you imagine that players stats would be given the same "usage %" LeBron had these finals

Kobe
Jordan
Wilt
Shaq
Kareem
Hakeem
Oscar
Magic
Bird
Baylor
Or whoever you think of

Nobody is winning with this Cav team. Your best bet to make it at least a series would be Bird or Magic. IF you put a primed Bird in this situation his numbers would be through the roof but they would still get beat like they did with Lebron. Same with Magic.
But one thing that nobody is bringing up is Lebron is not in his prime anymore and is clearly not the player he was a few years ago. His court sense is better but his athletisicm is not nearly at the same level. IF you put prime Lebron from say 2008 on the Cavs his numbers would really be ridiculous and it would be a close series.

[tmacattack33]

LOL at this.

A better question is "Replace Lebron with _______, do the Cavs still make this series competitive?".

[FKAri]

Shaq/Hakeem/MJ/Bird are your best bets. Not sure theyd win tho.

[Angel Face]

Since we need to pick with ball handling skills, Jordan and likely Bird could have beaten the GSW.

FIVE games there very close and only one blow-out by GSW. Lebron is nowhere near as good in the clutch as MJ/Bird (not in these Finals anyway), and they could have won an extra game or two just in the clutch.

Add the fact MJ is much better defender than Lebron, doesnt waste possessions and would set up teammates better. If GSW would leave him 1v1 like they did Lebron, I dont even want to speculate how badly Jordan would abuse GSW, and at good FG%.

So yes, prime Jordan would had won the series, and Bird likely too, or made series closer.

Gotta agree with this. Most games in the series was decided in the clutch and MJ / Bird are the most deadly clutch assassins in history. It's safe to say that MJ / Bird can beat GSW.

[NBASTATMAN]

Shaq/Hakeem/MJ/Bird are your best bets. Not sure theyd win tho.


They wouldnt win with Shaq and Hakeem.. Horrible guard play..

[NBASTATMAN]

Since we need to pick with ball handling skills, Jordan and likely Bird could have beaten the GSW.

FIVE games there very close and only one blow-out by GSW. Lebron is nowhere near as good in the clutch as MJ/Bird (not in these Finals anyway), and they could have won an extra game or two just in the clutch.

Add the fact MJ is much better defender than Lebron, doesnt waste possessions and would set up teammates better. If GSW would leave him 1v1 like they did Lebron, I dont even want to speculate how badly Jordan would abuse GSW, and at good FG%.

So yes, prime Jordan would had won the series, and Bird likely too, or made series closer.


Im not sure Bird would be able to handle the ball as much as Lebron did.. Mj would be the only viable option..

[FKAri]

They wouldnt win with Shaq and Hakeem.. Horrible guard play..

I know but my opinion on this changed in the last few games when Mozgov started going off and the GSW couldnt rebound for shit. If Delly/Shump just cross the halfcourt and instead of trying to drive and kick just dump it into the post they have a chance.

However GS would just relentlessly collapse on defense and on offense attack the paint and get that ONE guy in foul trouble at which point it would be game over anyways.

[choppermagic]

Hard to predict with the bigs. Obviously with the likes of Shaq/Hakeem, the GS defence is now completely distorted to deal with the pounding inside. Would they be able to recover and guard shooters left wide open as a result? Hard to tell since they didn't have to really do that. Would they be in foul trouble the entire game and in the penalty trying to deal with Shaq, etc. probably.

In terms of wings, not sure the HOF greats would have won the series either. MJ in his prime would have brought more of a killer mentality and play harder defence i suspect. Not sure if it would be enough.

Kobe would have scored ridiculous numbers if they single covered him like they did to Lebron. You would have seen 40+ppg for sure and maybe some amazing 60 point games. But the result would have been similar since he wouldnt have been able to guard all the weapons of GS.

Magic? This one is really tough. The Cavs offense would have been much smoother and they would have ran, perhaps even more so than GS, forcing GS to try and slow the game down? Magic also had the ability to elevate his teammates. For some reason i got the impression that Lebron's comments, body language was that his team mates sucked, which probably destroyed their morale and confidence. Having Magic feed you on fastbreaks and making scrubs look good might have been enough to change the entire dynamic. It would have been a fun series with Magic in place of Lebron for sure. Total scoring shootouts. Possible win.

Bird? Probably similar to the result. Would have been more efficient but he's not mobile enough to chase down fast players of GS so i think the Cavs still would have lost.

[gilalizard]

Hakeem maybe.
Shaq maybe.
Kobe maybe (if in legit assassin-closer form, not VolumeshooterBe form).
Magic probably.
Larry Legend likely.
MJ almost definitely.

[Velocirap31]

Shaq, yes. He'd need to put up 45 and 20 though, which he could do. Everyone else, no.

[jongib369]

Do you have Baylor in your top 10?
I prefer tiers...And its been awhile since I've given thought to a top 10....But if he isn't, he's not far from it. I value bigs more so than any other position...For instance I'd rank Wilt and Kareem over Jordan in that order, maybe even Shaq as 3rd. Team accomplishments put aside, a bigs level of impact, especially with that much skill/size/athleticism makes it hard for me to rank smaller players overy them. It'd take someone like LeBron, Oscar, Magic, Jordan but with a rediculously high 3pt% and attempts

In a rush typing this at work, I'll put more thought /time into this when I can

[TheCorporation]

There was a stat that showed the Cavs offensive stats when LeBron was sitting on the bench. Something like 18.2 FG% and 0 % 3P :lol

It showed something like them scoring 55/100 pos and a net -39 :lol

I think Shumpert shot 25% for the series.

Yeah, no one is beating the Warriors if you replace LeBron.

[TheCorporation]

Shaq, yes. He'd need to put up 45 and 20 though, which he could do. Everyone else, no.

Who would bring the ball up/be their ball handlers? Delly? J.R Smith? For the entire series? W/o LeBron & Kyrie that is a disaster.

[Kobe_6/8]

Who would bring the ball up/be their ball handlers? Delly? J.R Smith? For the entire series? W/o LeBron & Kyrie that is a disaster.

Is Derek Fisher that much better than Delly or J.R. Smith?

[Sakkreth]

Nobody.

[HOoopCityJones]

Single cover Jordan, Shaq or Kobe and see what happens.

[MP.Trey]

Single cover Jordan, Shaq or Kobe and see what happens.
Different players, different ganeplans.

[HOoopCityJones]

Different players, different ganeplans.

You bet your ass, you couldn't single cover any of those guys. :lol