3 Superstars The Cavs Failed To Pair With LeBron James

While LeBron James spent the better part of his career in his hometown, Cleveland hasn’t always been successful in bringing in talent.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has had the luxury of playing alongside many incredible talents over the years.

After basically being a one-man show in his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James teamed up with his 2003 draft mates' Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the Miami Heat Big 3 in 2010.

In his return to the Cavs, The King won another championship with the likes of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Nowadays, LeBron James forms a terrifying one-two punch with the best big man in the game, Anthony Davis, with the Purple and Gold.

While James spent the better part of his career in his hometown, Cleveland hasn’t always been successful in bringing in other top-notch talents who can roll with Bron. They had to pull a lot of strings to acquire suitable pieces around him but still missed out on a lot of big names.

Here are three superstars who could have played alongside James in Cleveland.

Paul George

Nowadays, PG13 has formed an intimidating tandem with fellow two-way superstar Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers. George has had his run-ins with James in the postseason, but the pair was extremely close to sharing the floor together back in 2017.

With the Kyrie Irving-saga reaching its peak that summer, the Cavs initially had a deal to ship out the disgruntled star in a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns and the Indiana Pacers.

Cleveland would have gotten George in return, along with Eric Bledsoe who would have taken Irving’s place in the starting unit. Irving, meanwhile, lands with the Suns alongside Channing Frye. The supposed agreement even had the blessing from James himself.

However, the Suns nixed the deal after refusing to send their number 4 pick to Indiana. James was left deeply angered by the team’s inability to complete the transaction, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The Cavs eventually settled on a deal with the Boston Celtics, flipping Irving for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and multiple draft picks. George was moved to the OKC Thunder shortly, while Bledsoe played for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Chris Paul

CP3 has long been chummy with LeBron and is part of the “Banana Boat Crew” alongside Wade and Carmelo Anthony. In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks last February, Paul revealed that he was close to being teammates with James on two occasions.

Paul talked to James and Wade about also taking his talents to South Beach sometime during 2010-14. The 6-time All-Star even joked that the only problem was that he and Wade would fight over the no.3 jersey. Given that Miami already had three max players at the time, adding Paul’s contract would have been extremely tricky.

The more likely scenario was in the 2016-17 season when Irving requested a trade from the Cavs. Paul had a year left on his deal with the Clippers at the time and would have instantly given Cleveland another talented playmaker.

The Cavs, however, was unable to come to terms with the Clips for the right deal, and Paul was eventually traded to the Houston Rockets.

Scottie Pippen

Given Pippen’s age and his time away from the sport at the time, his tie-up with LeBron would have been more of a novelty than anything. Still, the 6-time NBA champion could have been easily LeBron James’ most accomplished teammate. After retiring from basketball in 2004, reports surfaced that Pippen was aiming for a comeback in 2007.

The 6-foot-8 swingman, who was already 41 at the time, understandably wanted to join a contender in a bid to win his seventh title. While the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns showed interest, Pippen was drawn to the upstart Cavs.

“I’m thinking of trying to come back for the playoffs,” Pippen was quoted in 2007. “Something like the last two months of the season, somewhere I can come back and play limited minutes to start, play point forward for someone and build toward the playoffs. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last three months.”

Despite Pippen’s efforts, no NBA team picked him up that summer. The Cavs went on to make their first Finals trip that year but was swept by the Spurs. Pippen’s inclusion likely wouldn't have altered the outcome, but his championship wisdom would have certainly come in handy for James.

Scottie made his basketball comeback overseas, suiting up in Finland and Sweden in 2008.