Cavs aren’t sweating LeBron James’ decision

So LeBron James isn’t coming back to Cleveland. Again.

And you know what? The Cavaliers will be just fine.

That’s not to suggest they didn’t want him. They absolutely did. LeBron was at the top of their wish list, and for obvious reasons. He’s the greatest player in franchise history, he remains remarkably productive at age 41, and adding him to a team that just reached the Eastern Conference finals would’ve made for one heck of a story.

But the Cavs weren’t operating this summer as if LeBron James was coming to rescue them. They don’t need rescuing.

James has agreed to a two-year, minimum-salary contract with the 76ers. So after nearly a month of speculation, Cleveland finally has its answer. Now the Cavs move on.

Frankly, that’s what they’ve been preparing to do all along.

They already re-signed Donovan Mitchell. James Harden is expected to re-sign now that the LeBron situation is officially out of the way. Cleveland has also remained involved in the Jonathan Kuminga market, with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reporting that Max Strus and Dennis Schroder have surfaced as potential trade candidates.

Hoops Wire has been told that Cleveland is Kuminga’s preferred destination. He has worked out in the area in the past and his agent, Aaron Turner, is from nearby Orange, Ohio. Kuminga is a real possibility.

In other words, president of basketball operations Koby Altman and the Cavs haven’t spent the past three-plus weeks staring at their phones.

They’ve been waiting, yes. But they’ve also been planning. That’s an important distinction.

LeBron would’ve been a tremendous addition. At the veteran minimum Philadelphia is getting him for? Good grief. Any contender in basketball would’ve taken that deal and figured out the rest later.

But Cleveland’s situation is dramatically different than it was the first two times James left.

In 2010, his departure effectively ended an era overnight. In 2018, everyone knew what was coming next. The Cavs had just completed four straight trips to the Finals, the roster was aging and another rebuild was inevitable.

This isn’t that. These Cavaliers reached the conference finals without LeBron James. They have Mitchell. They have Evan Mobley. They have a front office that remains active and, barring another surprise, they’ll have Harden back.

They also now have clarity. That’s probably the biggest thing. For nearly a month, almost everything the Cavs might have wanted to do came with the same question attached: What if LeBron comes?

Now they know he isn’t. So perhaps the Kuminga talks become more serious. Perhaps Strus or Schroder gets moved. Perhaps there’s something else out there that hasn’t become public yet.

Whatever comes next, the Cavaliers can finally operate without keeping one eye on LeBron.

Would a third homecoming have been fun? Absolutely. Would it have given Cleveland another legitimate weapon in trying to get past the Knicks and reach the Finals? No doubt.

But this isn’t 2010. The Cavs didn’t lose their franchise when LeBron chose Philadelphia.

They simply didn’t add LeBron to one that’s already pretty darn good. And now they can get back to work.