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5 teams that can stop LeBron from winning a title in Cleveland

By Brad Rowland

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) calls a play against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) calls a play against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) tosses powder in the air prior to the game against the Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) tosses powder in the air prior to the game against the Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

LeBron James is going to be a Cleveland Cavalier for a while.

There has been speculation about LeBron and the fact that he structured his contract with Cleveland in a specific way as to provide an “out” for himself if things didn’t go according to plan.

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Still, the NBA’s new television right have skyrocketed the projected salary cap for the 2016-2017 season and beyond, and non-coincidentally, that aligns perfectly with James and his potential to hit the free market once again.

What does this all mean? Well, in short, LeBron James has done nothing more than ensure that he will extract the maximum salary…. from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The enormous production of James’ return home has faded away as the 2014-2015 as matured, but with the Cavs playing some of the best basketball in the league, the focus has shifted to LeBron and the prospect of bringing titles to his hometown.

This particular season provides a unique set of challenges, as LeBron is breaking in a first-year head coach (David Blatt) and two-thirds of a “big three” (Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love) that has never sniffed playoff success.

That makes this foray in Cleveland a multi-year effort, and any pundit who pretends otherwise is simply misguided. In that vein, we will take a look at five organizations that could potentially derail LeBron James in his effort to win Cleveland its much-anticipated NBA title.

It must be noted that not every team on this list can stop James this season, but with young rosters potentially maturing as legitimate road blocks for LeBron and company, the future must be taken into account.

Let’s take a look at our quintet of teams, in alphabetical order.

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