NBA Dream Team: 2016 Playoffs edition Round 1

LeBron James.

Small Forward: LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

First Round average: 22.8 points, 9 rebounds and 6.8 assists

The Cleveland Cavaliers might have swept off the Detroit Pistons but it wasn’t easy. Cleveland’s Big 3 had to fire all four games in order to put away the young Pistons. However, the importance of James cannot be understated in this series.

Through the four games the Cavaliers are +50 when James is on the floor, the highest +/- recorded by any player in the series. That speaks volumes to James’ importance to the team’s success. Despite having Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, Cleveland needs James on the floor to excel.

His game is such that he excels at various departments of the game, allowing him to do what is necessary for the team at any given moment.

If the team needs some quick offense, he is happy to stand aside as a threat and let Irving do his thing. If his team needs offense through the post, he is happy to drop the ball to Love in the post and stand at the three point line as a threat or cut towards the basket.

If neither of Love and Irving are firing, James can take over the game in more than one way. He could physical dominate the game and score some quick buckets or attract the attention of the defense with his penetration and then kick out to his wide open teammates.

James beat Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard to this spot. Durant had some off-games in his chippy series with the Dallas Mavericks while Leonard hardly played any meaningful minutes to make a decent argument for the spot.