5 reasons LeBron James’ return means title repeat for Cavs
By John Buhler
2. Cleveland remains the overwhelming favorite to win the East.
While it would probably be the case if James were to sign with roughly 10-12 teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers will enter 2016-17 as the overwhelming favorite to win the Eastern Conference for the third straight season.
With the East being the easier of the two conferences for the large part of the last two decades, Cleveland’s chances to win the 2017 NBA Finals have to be better than anybody coming out of the West.
No matter how good Golden State or Oklahoma City may be, both of those teams will have to go through a gauntlet in the NBA Playoffs to even play for an NBA Championship. The Spurs, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Portland Trail Blazers are just three of the teams in the West more than capable of playing playoff spoiler next season.
In the East, while teams like the Toronto Raptors and the Atlanta Hawks are good enough to play in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals, neither Atlanta or Toronto have the roster capable of beating a James-led Cleveland in a best-of-seven series.
Even in a down year, the Cavaliers should win at least eight to 10 games in the 2017 NBA Playoffs with James on its roster. That puts Cleveland easily in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. From there, it’s all about matchups and Cleveland is a nightmare for Atlanta and a beast to Toronto.
Next: 1. Cleveland faces no pressure, as the Cavaliers have nothing left to prove.