Don't Crown LeBron James the King Just Yet

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still the most overrated team in the NBA, despite the Orlando Magic exposing their flaws like Tim Donaghy.

Too soon?

Anyway, the Cavs made some deals and failed to make some. (Imagine if Trevor Ariza’s recent 33-point outing, a career high, had been for Cleveland instead of Houston.) They landed Shaquille O’Neal and Jamario Moon and gave up almost nothing. With all of this in place, along with a highly motivated LeBron James, does this equal a championship for the city of Cleveland for the first time since the 1960’s, and a better shot at keeping LeBron beyond 2010?

Yes and no, but not in that order.

If he’s smart, and I believe he is, LeBron will remain in Cleveland, where he has the best chance right now of being successful. He will have to wait at least another year for his first cookie...er, ring.

There are a few things that stand in the way of the Cavaliers and 16 playoff wins in 2010.

1. The 216

Michael Moore’s newest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, has a scene where an unknown singer sings an ode to the city of Cleveland, with random (false) information spread here and there, like how the city’s economy is based on LeBron. The end of this humorous song echoes what is probably the motto of every professional sports team in the 216 area code: “...but at least we’re not Detroit.”

The last professional team in Cleveland to hoist a championship pennant, banner, or trophy was the 1964 Cleveland Browns. In their 40 seasons, (commemorated by the “XL” patch on their jerseys this season) the Cavaliers have been to the NBA Finals one time, where they were then swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

What’s worse, the most famous figure for the Cavs other than LeBron is a guy by the name of Craig Ehlo.

[Don’t know Craig Ehlo, you say? Nonsense—remember “The Shot?" Bulls and Cavs, Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with the Knicks waiting for the winner? Remember that guy that was supposed to be guarding Michael Jordan when he hit that memorable game-winning shot and nearly got kicked by him as he jumped and celebrated? That’s Craig Ehlo.]

Since the Cavaliers are now the best shot that Cleveland has to meet glory for the first time, the city has all but forgotten the Browns and Indians and has rallied around their NBA team. Such pressure can make or break a team.

2. The Big Uh-Oh

Shaquille O’Neal’s Never-Ending Farewell Tour has made a stop in Cuyahoga County, and the Cavs made this move for one particular reason. They need a center. No, not Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a center. Zeke spent six games during the Eastern Conference Finals running from Dwight Howard out to the perimeter. Luckily for them, it was Dwight Howard that was the problem and not Kevin Garnett. Otherwise, there may not have even been six games.

Cleveland got Shaq to defend Howard and Garnett, mainly Howard, but think about this.

Shaq is 37 years old, a couple inches taller, and an unknown, but positive, number of pounds heavier. This is where Shaq’s advantages, if you can call them that, come to a screeching halt.

Dwight Howard is much quicker, more athletic, (or as Charles Barkley would say, “ath-a-letic”). Howard runs, something Shaq hasn’t done since his Laker days, and while neither center shoots free throws like Ray Allen, Howard’s free-throw percentage is definitely above O’Neal’s.

What does this all mean, really? Shaq won’t be able to last all the minutes that Howard plays, which means Zeke will have to play him again, and we all know how well that went last time.

All in all, Shaq has been good for the NBA, but he needs his own “This Is It” tour and to really make this season it. Few people seem to see that he’s not really all that dominant anymore. He can be at times, but how often is the question.

3. Mike Brown

Is it just me or has the once-coveted Coach of the Year award been tainted all of a sudden, in similar fashion to the Heisman and the Madden cover?

Avery Johnson gets Coach of the Year and then gets his walking papers. Mike Brown hasn’t received his, and I’m not saying that he should. He does needs to make smarter decisions though.

For example, if you’re down by two points in a game with the clock winding down, and your team has the last possession, why not go for two points? Why are teams seemingly afraid of overtime? The Bulls and the Celtics sure aren’t. This situation happened in one of the ECF games last year, and Delonte West shot a three from the corner and missed, giving the Magic the win.

Better decisions have to be made. That’s all I’m saying.

4. Other Teams

The Cavaliers are not a team to forget about completely. I wouldn’t say that at all. It’s not like they’re the Knicks.

They’re just not a championship team yet, at least not this year.

Sure, they got Shaq, which gave them what they really needed, but look at what other teams did.

The Lakers got Ron Artest, who gave them hell in last year’s semifinals. The Celtics got Rasheed Wallace, who can definitely be an asset if he keeps himself in check. The Celtics already have enough attitude. The Magic also got Vince Carter, who makes a deep Orlando team even deeper if he can stay healthy. These transactions are all better than Cleveland’s transactions, and if their home opener loss is any indication, other teams, especially Boston, who is currently steamrolling at 4-0, are just flat out hungrier than the Cavaliers.

Therefore, after ruining the Finals that everyone anticipated, the Cavaliers have a lot to do this year to get to where they wanted to be last year. They can make it, but they have to do a lot more than what they’ve done so far in their 1-2 start. It can’t just be the LeBron show. One of the other teammates has to show up.

Hey, it took MJ seven years to get his first. Maybe history is on his side after all. Who knows?