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For the fourth year in a row in the NBA Finals, we will be seeing the same teams fighting it out to be the NBA champions. The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will go head-on once again, as the Warriors are 2-1 against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Finals since 2015. To many, this Finals matchup was not wanted, but it won't be the last one between the two teams anytime soon.
Here are four reasons why.
Player contracts for Warriors
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala are all locked in for the 2019 season, while three out of the five are locked through 2020. It would not be surprising if the front office gives them extensions, although their cap space may not make that possible.
Either way, followers of the NBA should expect the Warriors to appear in the Finals for at least the next two years. With a solid starting five and fourth best performing bench, they will continue to dominate the Western Conference, even with the rise of "superteams".
The rise of "Superteams"
Ever since Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in 2016, they have been labeled as a "superteam" and teams have since followed that path to sign top-caliber players alongside players they think need help in order to pursue the NBA Finals and, of course, to match up with the capabilities of the Warriors.
We witness each year when the Cavaliers trade players to help LeBron, but before the start of the 2017 season, we saw plenty of top players join teams that needed an addition to make them a "superteam". Here are some transactions that occurred:
-PG Chris Paul joined James Harden and the Houston Rockets through trade
-Jimmy Butler was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who already had one of the best centers in the league, Karl-Anthony Towns, and shooter Andrew Wiggins
-Paul George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder to get Russell Westbrook help he needed and did not have after Durant left. On top of that, Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Thunder as well, which many thought would help them be the top competitor against the Warriors, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz.
-Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics. While the rumors were that he wanted out of Cleveland, the Celtics needed to rebuild to compete against the Cavaliers. Trading for Irving and signing Gordon Hayward will certainly help them with that.
Even with these trades, teams are not able to win against the Warriors or Cavaliers in the playoffs. The majority of these superteams are in the Western Conference, which gives the Warriors a path to the Finals that is a bit harder, but there aren't many teams in the East to compete against the Cavaliers.
No competition in the Eastern Conference
Since 2011, we have witnessed LeBron in the NBA Finals every year. He was 2-2 in the Finals while playing with the Miami Heat and he has appeared three times with the Cavaliers after that, winning once.
There seems to be no competition in the Eastern Conference because each year, LeBron is able to take down teams and reach the Finals. The Toronto Raptors are always noted to be a playoff threat, but they never amount to that.
Since 2015, the Raptors have lost to Cavaliers in the Playoffs, and they have done so in the semifinals in each of the last two seasons. Teams like the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks show they are real contenders during the regular season but never make it through the playoffs much.
What is the cause of this? Each season, we see a new and better-performing LeBron, just like New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Neither of them seem to be slowing down in performance as they age.
No sign of LeBron slowing down
It seems as if wherever LeBron plays, we won't see his skills deteriorate. Every season, he is always in the mix for the MVP award. For the first time in his career, he played all 82 games in the regular season. His points per game have increased over time, but otherwise, his statistics seem to be the same overall even though it seems he gets much better each year.
But each year we see a different type of LeBron playing. Many have an opinion that LeBron needs help to win and it may not be true. Aside from Kevin Love, no one has performed well and contributed to the win like LeBron.
His offensive and defensive skills have brought out the "King" in him in the last couple of years even though he has a solid group around him. It wouldn't be surprising if he plays into his 40s, that, too, on a different team.
