LeBron James: East teams 'going for it' since they 'ain't gotta go through me'
The Eastern Conference contenders were big winners at the NBA trade deadline with the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors all making bold, aggressive moves.
LeBron James watched it all as his Los Angeles Lakers failed to secure Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s the superstar’s first season in the Western Conference and he shared with The Athletic’s Joe Vardon why he thought the Eastern Conference teams went big Thursday.
East doesn’t go through James anymore
Eastern Conference teams always knew what they were up against going for a title. But with James out west, it’s fair to say any team with talent is more of a believer than a year ago.
“Those top teams in the East, yeah, they’re going for it,” James told The Athletic. “Toronto is going for it, Milwaukee’s going for it, Philly. Boston believes they can do it, too. They know they ain’t gotta go through Cleveland anymore.
“Everybody in the East thinks they can get to the Finals because they ain’t gotta go through me.”
James is currently riding a streak of eight consecutive NBA Finals — four with the Cleveland Cavaliers and four with the Miami Heat. Only one team in the past five years has taken a James-led team to a seventh game in the conference final (Boston Celtics, 2018).
The league-leading Bucks (40-13) added deep-scoring threat Nikola Mirotic for a few bench players and second-round picks Thursday. Their shot charts show a seamless fit as shown by Yahoo Sports’ Seerat Sohi.
The Raptors (40-16) are a tight second in the conference and added 11-year veteran center Marc Gasol.
The 76ers (34-20) made their move Wednesday, adding Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers to create a dominating starting five. He’ll join Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler, who have their team in the conference’s top five.
There’s also Boston, the East runner-up the previous two seasons that has one of the league’s deepest rosters.
A wide-open playoff slate
The All-Star game draft only just happened, yet after Thursday’s excitement it’s easy to look ahead to what could be in the postseason.
“S—, I was excited seeing all the moves they made in the East today,” James told The Athletic. “Those matchups in the second round, in the Eastern Conference finals, that s— is gonna be crazy. It’s gonna be fun to watch.”
In a far-too-early look at the NBA playoff picture in the East, No. 1 Milwaukee would face No. 8 Miami.
No. 2 Toronto, which has an easier schedule against only nine teams above .500, would draw the Charlotte Hornets.
The No. 3 Indiana Pacers would get the Brooklyn Nets, and fourth-place Boston would play the 76ers.
James and the Lakers would not make it in the West, which James told The Athletic he was OK with.
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