"1-5" LeBron James Should Be In Full Effect Next Season

LeBron James should play more center next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers as Draymond Green has done for the Golden State Warriors.

In order for the Cleveland Cavaliers to fully utilize their potential the team has to play LeBron James at point guard and center consistently next season. This strategy worked well for the Golden State Warriors last year and could be key for the Cavaliers championship hopes this season.

LeBron James was once called “1-5” by Erik Spoelstra. At 6-foot-8, 250 pounds and with the prototypical NBA body, James used his insane athleticism, quickness and strength at all five positions for the Miami Heat. James will have to draw on his South Beach magic and get back in the gym because the Cavaliers need him down low.

James’ passing ability, court vision, timing, and awareness define his natural ability to play the point guard. James’ intelligence, instinctive play, post skills and tenacity aided his efforts to play in the frontcourt. His work on his balance, mechanics and off-ball scoring aided him as a shooting guard.

Combining his passing, shooting and post defense into an uber-athletic body is an alchemical process that results in the NBA’s version of the Philosopher’s Stone, a mineral that turns everything to gold.

Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green is a perfect example of this process. His play has been instrumental to the Warriors success over the past two seasons, as Golden State won a NBA championship and then broke the regular season win total record in back-to-back years.

Green has used the same attributes to become the league’s preeminent triple-double threat at the power forward position. While standing at a hair under 6-foot-6, Green has also looked like one of the league’s most dominant centers at times as well with outstanding rim-protection and low-post defense. Last season, Green remained a two-way threat because of his court vision and catch-and-shoot ability.

LeBron’s ability to play center defensively starts with his 40-inch vertical. This leaping ability and the rim-protection the team gains from it allows the team to avoid the team relying on Kevin Love at center in small-ball lineups. James also has the strength and savvy to bury some centers under the rim as he fronts them in the low post. Players aren’t going to pass to a center who they can’t get the ball to for fear of it being stolen in mid-flight or simply missing the target altogether.

Last year, opponents shot 51.6 percent against James at the rim. It’s not on the level of Bismack Biyombo, who held opponents to 45.2 percent shooting at the rim, but it’s better than the percentages of centers such as Tyson Chandler.

In the playoffs, opponents shot 43.5 percent at the rim against James. He had to defend the rim far less than Chandler, but James still held opponents to 50.0 percent shooting at the rim in 2013-14 with the Miami Heat during the regular season and 49.1 percent in the playoffs, percentages lower than Chandler’s in the same span.

In 2013-14 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love was allowing opponents to shoot 57.5 percent at the rim in the regular season. Opponents shot 54.1 percent at the rim against Love in the 2015-16 regular season and 57.6 percent in the playoffs.

In 2014-15, James held opponents to 49.7 percent shooting at the rim in the regular season and 47.5 percent in the playoffs. In that same year, opponents shot 52.7 percent at the rim against Love in the regular season. Love was injured in the first round of the playoffs so the sample size of data is insufficient. Yet, it can be assumed that in any year, James’ rim protection is better than Love’s both statistically and visually.

The NBA world already knows James is a ball-dominant player with the passing ability, vision, and basketball IQ that will play point guard by necessity. Defensively, James doesn’t prefer to play like a big man, but a Green-like role will be what’s best for the team this season. With prior experience and the prototypical physical profile for the job, James should find himself playing the center position a lot this season.

The second advantage of using James at point guard or center is that it allows Cleveland to allocate more minutes to wing players. Mike Dunleavy Jr., Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Jordan McRae would all have significant roles next season. In addition, the team can re-sign J.R. Smith and retain DeAndre Liggins, who played well for the Cavs in Summer League, to give them significant regular season roles as well, at least in the case of Smith. With a team talent-rich on the wing, a player like James can cover holes at the frontcourt and point guard position.

As a point-center James will have one more shooter to pass out to and one less defender as the rim, that spells doom for the other team. James is the best passer in the league and runs at the rim like a train going full-speed.

Last season, that combination helped Green earn 7.5 assists. Over his career, James has earned his assists more judiciously than Green. Yet, with a quickened pace of play and the space that will be left under the rim in his absence, James can earn a few easy ones next season.