Are Cleveland Cavaliers Getting a Different LeBron James Back?

As good as LeBron James was for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003-2010, he was far from a perfect player and person.

While "The Decision" helped prove that, so did a 3-of-14 shooting, 15-point performance in a crucial Game 5 against the Boston Celtics in the 2010 conference semifinals that most Cavs fans remember all too well.

Now more than four years since he last donned the wine and gold, James is back with his hometown team.

Much has changed in that time.

Cleveland remembers James as a super-talented, albeit somewhat immature, star who single-handedly revived its struggling basketball franchise.

Now 29 years old and returning to the area where he grew up, one thing is clear: He's even better.

Evolution as a Player

TONY DEJAK/Associated Press

James possesses many of the same great qualities that helped him become the NBA's best player while in Cleveland the first time.

At 6'8", 250 pounds, his combination of size, strength, quickness and ball-handling makes him the most unique player the NBA has seen since Magic Johnson. He has a very high basketball IQ and makes players around him better, a feat not all NBA stars can accomplish.

As James has continued to get bigger and stronger, his game has opened up on the offensive end. While playing almost exclusively at small forward during his first seven years, he actually spent the majority of his time (57 percent of all plays) at power forward with the Miami Heat.

His post game has grown exponentially. With the NBA getting smaller and quicker, James has been able to take advantage of playing the 4 by scoring in the paint more frequently and with greater success.

Here's a look at his shot breakdown in 2009-10 while with the Cavs:

Credit: NBA.com/Stats

Despite his physical stature, James was attempting just over a third of his shots in the restricted area. This was a low number considering his success, a whopping 74.5 percent conversion rate.

Fast forward four years to 2013-14, his final run with Miami:

Credit: NBA.com/Stats

This past season, James increased his shot total to nearly 43 percent from the restricted area, with his success rate rising to 78.3 percent.

Thanks to his ever-growing post game, he is taking (and making) more high-percentage shots.

While the Cavaliers primarily played James on the perimeter, Miami also mixed him inside as a second big man next to Chris Bosh.

Here's how James' overall shot locations and percentages have changed since his move to Miami, via NBA.com:

	FG%	3P%	3PM	3PA	PITP%	RA FG%	Paint FG%
2009-10 Cavs	50.3	33.3	1.7	5.1	39.9	74.5	42.5
2013-14 Heat	56.7	37.9	1.5	4.0	50.3	78.3	50.4

Given his increased proximity to the basket, his shooting percentages have greatly improved (both restricted area and paint shooting).

Last season with the Heat, over half of James' scoring came from inside (points-in-the-paint percentage), compared to just 39.9 percent during his 2009-10 season in Cleveland.

While his scoring dipped going from Cleveland to Miami (27.8 to 26.9 points per game), his overall field-goal percentage and three-point shooting was much more efficient. He learned to play off guys like Bosh and Dwyane Wade, moving without the ball and setting himself up for open shots.

The result?

James ended last season with the highest field-goal percentage of any non-center in the NBA.

Now teaming up with Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Co., James should find himself with the same open looks. Defenses will be spread thin trying to guard the Cavaliers' plethora of scorers. New coach David Blatt prefers a Princeton-based offense predicated on ball movement, a far cry from Mike Brown's isolation-heavy system.

What does this mean? For starters, that Cleveland should see quite an improvement from their 22nd-ranked team offense a season ago. James will lead this charge, but receive plenty of help from his new teammates. Irving, Love and James all finished in the top 14 scorers in the NBA a season ago.

On defense, he can guard up to four positions. And even though he is capable of covering big men, James has become elite against wing players. While he allowed opposing 4's to register an above-average 17.6 PER against him last season, he gave up PERs of just 12.1 to shooting guards and a stingy 10.0 to small forwards, via 82games.com.

In seven seasons with the Cavaliers, James was named to the All-NBA Defensive team twice. In four years with Miami, he collected defensive honors every season (three first teams, one second).

The biggest change concerning James, however, may be between his ears.

He is a champion. He's not only reached the pinnacle of basketball but fought his way back to defend it. After all, this is what drove James from Cleveland in the first place. Although those Cavaliers' teams had nice, veteran pieces on them, none offered the chance to play alongside a star like Wade or Bosh. James couldn't win a title by himself, something he had to flee south in order to do.

The pressure to win a title, something that plagued his legacy for eight long years, has now dissolved.

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Of course he wants to win another. Or two. Or five.

It's not the same type of pressure, however. If James never wins a Finals again, he'll still be called an NBA champion. If the Cavaliers don't bring home a trophy, the fans will still love him because he chose to come back.

James can now play with a relaxed pressure. Enough to drive him, but not so much that he'll crack under it.

He is in a better place mentally and should be hungrier than ever to win a title now that he's back in Cleveland.

Evolution as a Person

James actually collected three rings during his time in Miami.

In addition to his two championship rings, he married his longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, in September 2013.

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

While James had two sons with Brinson during his early Cleveland days, the two had yet to tie the knot. Now nearing 30, he returns to the Cavs a married man with the couple's first daughter on the way.

James made a significant change to his business life as well, hiring Rich Paul as his agent in favor of Leon Rose. Rose was James' agent during "The Decision", a move that cast a black eye on the latter's popularity.

Paul and James met when the latter was still in high school. The two bonded over Paul's authentic jersey collection. Both were from Northeast Ohio and had plans to give back to the community and the less-than-ideal neighborhoods each grew up in (via Joe Drape of The New York Times).

Paul has served as a friend and mentor to James, often telling him things he needed to hear that few others would dare say. Take, for example, this exchange that happened after James and the Heat lost the 2011 Finals, with LeBron having been cast in the villain role, per Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine:

"

The dinner table in their rented mansion was full of steak, seafood, fruit and more, but the mood was sour. James and Wade were beating themselves up, trying to explain what happened. Paul stepped in. "Man, it wasn't meant for y'all to win.''

"Man, what are you talking about?'' said an irked James.

"The reason you didn't win it is that you weren't being you," Paul said. "You were playing with a lot of anger, being someone you're not. If God had let you win, you would've felt like you should be that person -- angry, thinking everybody's against you, not having fun on the court. That's not you."

"Man, whatever," said James. "I'm not trying to hear this."

"It's bigger than what you did on the floor, Bron. It started from day one, when you decided to be someone else. God took you from your highest point to your lowest point so you could be humble, so you could look in the mirror and be a better player. Experience is the best teacher."

James was quiet. But the words, uttered by one of the few men who can deliver King James an unpopular message, hit home. Before long in interviews, at his camp, in the mirror, LeBron was saying the exact same thing.

"

Growing up not having his biological father around, James now has a reliable, intelligent voice in his ear.

Now as his agent, it was Paul who orchestrated James' free-agent meetings. He advised Cleveland to clear the necessary cap space to sign his client.

When deciding to announce his next decision, the increase in maturity for James was clear.

There was no TV special this time. No party. Not even so much as a press conference.

Instead, James and Paul planned the low-key, well-thought-out essay in collaboration with Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins.

The words were both meaningful and endearing. James was doing something few others in the professional world ever do: Make a decision with his heart.

Ty Wright/Getty Images

While the essay talked about his basketball decision, James also brought up the importance of people. One of the best segments goes like this:

"

I feel my calling here goes above basketball. I have a responsibility to lead, in more ways than one, and I take that very seriously. My presence can make a difference in Miami, but I think it can mean more where I’m from. I want kids in Northeast Ohio, like the hundreds of Akron third-graders I sponsor through my foundation, to realize that there’s no better place to grow up.

"

A funny thing can happen by the time one hits their late twenties. Suddenly the bright lights of the club seem a little too bright. The warm glow of a home and family can become a more attractive hangout spot.

James returns to Cleveland now approaching 30 years old and entering into his 12th professional season.

Much has changed since James last played for the Cavaliers.

Some would say for the better.

Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010. Connect with him on Twitter for more basketball news and conversation.

All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.