It seemed like only a week ago, everything was fine in Cleveland.
LeBron was playing as great as he’s ever looked in a Cavs uniform.
Kyrie Irving was beginning to find his groove back.
Kevin Love was coming off the best Playoff series of his career.
Everything seemed to be coming together leading up to the Finals.
Six days later, Cleveland is down 2-0 and if Game 3 is anything like the first two, it could be the beginning of the end of this roster as currently constructed.
No, this isn’t an episode of First Take.
LeBron is not going anywhere.
However, if the Cavs go down 3-0, he may put his General Manager hat back on in the scramble to retool for next year’s battle with Golden State.
If the Cavs are able to defend home court, perhaps it’s the beginning of another epic comeback.
Either way, Game 3 is a crossroads for the Cavaliers franchise.
Cleveland’s roster flaws have been on full display in this series and none of the players off the bench have proven themselves to be “untouchable” in terms of improving the franchise for next season.
Veteran players whose best days are behind them have looked overmatched by Golden State’s athleticism and pace.
Cleveland hasn’t been able to counter the Kevin Durant addition with another big scorer thus far in the series.
Granted, Irving has been far from his normal self, but two blowout losses showed the problems run much deeper than receiving poor play out of him.
Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith have been non-factors in the series, after both played huge roles in the 2016 comeback.
They both received big contract extensions with some help from LeBron, but if the Cavs lose Game 3, brace yourself for a chaotic reactionary day on Thursday, in which every trade machine possibility will have been exhausted and posted on your favorite Cavs blogs.
Even after two games, writers and talking heads have floated ideas of the Cavs trading for Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler.
If the Cavs were to land a player of that magnitude, there’s no easy scenario that doesn’t involve trading Love.
I’m not here to advocate one way or the other for that yet because even if the national media believes the series is over, there are still at least two more games to be played.
What I do know is that Game 3 will have a drastic impact on how this off-season is shaped, one way or another.
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