Here we go on the merry go round with LeBron James again, as he entertains his next NBA team to join.
It's said that Los Angeles, Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia or Boston will be James' latest landing place.
But if his main thing is winning more NBA titles, why isn't he mulling Utah?
The Jazz this season were as good or better than four of those five teams -- their record was better than the Lakers' and about the same as the Cavaliers' and 76ers' despite having a tougher schedule given that they play in the Western Conference. So, as ESPN commentator Skip Bayless said, "If the Utah Jazz were in the East, they'd be in the NBA Finals."
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So if the Jazz were better than the team that James was on, which made the Finals, James should, yes, consider Utah.
Of course, that means that he would have more of an uphill climb with Los Angeles or Philadelphia and perhaps Boston.
But Paul George may join the Lakers, you say. That doesn't change that Los Angeles was a full 30 games worse than the team that represented the Western Conference in the Finals and 12 and 13 games shy of a playoff berth and the Jazz. And we see that adding George doesn't necessarily make your team a contender. Oklahoma City pre and post-George was just one game different.
George made no difference for the Thunder.
So even with George and James added to that team, there's no guarantee that they would be able to be better than Golden State or Houston and win it all.
The Jazz just made the Western Conference semifinals, stealing a game in Houston without one of the best passers in the league.
Utah boasts two of the best players in the entire NBA. Rudy Gobert was just named the Defensive Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year award could have as soon gone to Donovan Mitchell as Ben Simmons. And the Jazz have one of the best coaches in the league in Quin Snyder, a deserved runner-up for Coach of the Year. And Dennis Lindsey earned his second-place slot for Executive of the Year. (This already means that James would get along with Lindsey better than he has with Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert.)
Utah, for its own part, is a potential-met Jabari Parker and healthy Dante Exum away from being contenders themselves, with or without James.
Or, it could work out for Utah even more generally. They just need an excellent small forward and improvement in one of their rotation players.
Or, just one star.
Of course, James fits that bill.
Look at how Utah would be unquestionably superior to the Cleveland team that was still Eastern Conference champions. Ricky Rubio, Joe Ingles, a healthy Exum and Derrick Favors (he wants to remain in Utah) are as valuable as anyone on the Cavaliers except for Kevin Love. Gobert and Mitchell more than anyone.
The Jazz were as good as a team that was in the Finals this year. Add in James and Utah would have as good a shot as anyone. A James/Gobert/Mitchell trio, with the Rubio/Ingles/healthy Exum/ Favors supporting-cast conglomerate, could hold its own against Golden State, Houston or Boston's guys, provided Kyrie Irving avoided injury, unlike this season.
Unless the glamour is his priority as much as winning, James needs to at least look the way of Salt Lake City.