Here's some subtext from my earlier Kevin Durant post: If Sam Presti worked for the Cavaliers, maybe LeBron James's actions would be easier to predict this summer.

Remember, LeBron's mini-max deal was as much about putting pressure on the front office as trying to sneak in another contract under the current CBA. I know James has those other ambitions, but let's not pretend the Cavs have made the best personnel decisions, or that he's totally indifferent to that part of the equation.

Then again, Presti has done most of his work in the draft, and since LeBron made the long drive over from Akron, the Cavs have had exactly one lottery pick. That was in 2004, and the answer is Luke Jackson at #10. The problem with LeBron is that he's too darn good to make that kind of rebuilding possible. Surround him with defenders and rebounders (or players coached well in these dark arts) and you will make the playoffs in the East.

Moves like the Larry Hughes signing, or losing Carlos Boozer, have been a disaster, and other than Mo Williams, it's hard to think of another acquisition who really boosted Cleveland's overall talent level. Delonte West was a happy accident, and Shaquille O'Neal has been helpful, not transformative. But LeBron James masks how little Jim Paxson, and then Danny Ferry, have really done to surround him with a championship cast.

After all, James made the NBA Finals in 2007, at a time when the Cavs still looked like a work in progress. It was kind of like Allen Iverson's 2001 run, except while AI only made sense with teammates relegated to doing his dirty work, James is limitless in the ways he can play off of, complement, and improve those around him.

This season, though, we're seeing a new incarnation of LeBron. As Kevin Pelton surmised yesterday, all of this season's elite teams have had to deal with injuries. However, only the Cavs have been able to keep on keepin' on without missing a beat. There's no mystery here; Pelton demonstrates that James consistently uses his versatility to plug the gaps created by other players' absences. In the past, James was so good that he only needed so much from his teammates. Now, he's reached the point where he can alter his form to compensate for absences on a deeper team.

"One-man team" is usually a pejorative term. In seasons past, it could be applied to James, albeit in the most mild way possible. However, he's now doing nothing less than redefining a cliche. LeBron James is one man who, as needed, contains an entire team within him.

Source: Bethlehem Shoals, FanHouse