Just like that, the NBA Finals trilogy between Golden State and Cleveland has come to an end. Golden State clinched the NBA championship for the first time at home, the franchise’s fifth title overall, with a 129-120 win over Cleveland. After a year of hype and anticipation, round three between the NBA’s two best teams felt more like The Godfather Part III than an epic conclusion to a fantastic chapter in the history of the NBA Finals.

Truthfully, the lopsided result of the Finals leaves us with quite a bit to chew on as we try to put this Warriors championship into context. In fact, the aftermath may prove to be more compelling than the past year-plus of anticipation. Before we shift gears into the uncertainty of the NBA’s offseason let’s break down some of the more interesting storylines to come out of last night in today’s “Heat Check.”

Redemption For the KD and the Warriors

A blown 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, and one text message may have changed the course of the NBA a year ago. Weeks later, the biggest free agent move since LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach set in motion a series of events that culminated last night. The Golden State Warriors found vindication in one of the most dominant postseasons of all time. A 16-1 record in the postseason puts the 2017 Warriors right there with the 1983 Sixers and 2001 Lakers among the best playoff runs in NBA history.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Igoudala, and Shaun Livingston all avenged their collapse in the Finals a year ago. Even more impressive was the performance of Kevin Durant, who silenced some critics by leading the Warriors to a title rather than just being along for the ride.

Durant was rightfully awarded Finals MVP, and finally won the title that had eluded him for almost a decade in Seattle/Oklahoma City. Despite what your feelings might be about how he won the title (joining a team coming off a 73-win season), his performance should speak volumes about Durant’s place among the NBA’s elite. The image of LeBron and KD’s embrace at halfcourt capped a five-year odyssey for the NBA’s second-best player winning a title that many thought he might never get.

Golden State now enters rarified air as they have the opportunity to become the latest dynasty in the NBA. While its still premature to compare these Warriors to the 00’s Lakers, 90’s Bulls, and 80’s Celtics/Lakers, you can’t deny that they are on the precipice of NBA immortality.

Trouble in Cleveland?

Among some of the more interesting bits from the post-game press conferences were many of the comments made by LeBron James. The King’s responses to certain questions about the Finals bordered on cryptic in regards to the future of his career. After becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to average a triple-double, LeBron didn’t seem to have many regrets about his performance in the Cavs’ 4-1 series loss.

“For me personally, I left everything on the floor every game, all five games,” said James. “I have no reason to put my head down and look back at what I could have done or should have done…”

Obviously, you see this type of comment and you wonder if LeBron is planting the seeds to leave Cleveland again in 2018? You never really know with LeBron. As we reached the conclusion of the Finals there were insiders and experts throwing out the possibility that LeBron may be interested in heading to Los Angeles to join the Lakers. That is a move that is still a year away, but ultimately feels a bit too farfetched.

The more realistic question is will Cleveland’s roster undergo a bit of an overhaul? LeBron “may not be the GM or in the front office,” but he has a lot of influence on this roster. Becoming the first MVP to lose five Finals definitely won’t sit well with LeBron as he is chasing down MJ for the title of the G.O.A.T. (a debate that may have ended last night).

Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson each had their struggles in the Finals, and could be on the proverbial trade block. Love would be the more attractive piece for other franchises and some in the media are already theorizing that he would be the chip to acquire someone like Paul George.

With LeBron and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs will remain the favorites in the Eastern Conference, but tweaking this roster to compete with the Warriors will be the top priority this offseason. However, things are clearly not okay in “The Land.”

What Now for the Rest of the NBA?

Over the course of this postseason, there has been a lot of chatter about whether the Warriors “superteam” and the Cavs dominance in the East are good for the league. We just witnessed one of the most star-studded NBA Finals in history with both teams combining for the most All-Stars in a Finals. Injuries to Kawhi Leonard and Isaiah Thomas certainly didn’t help the perception that this was a bad thing for the league.

If anything this should help to raise the level of competition across the league. Would that be something you might be interested in? Golden State may be head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other teams that can close the gap.

As I mentioned before, Cleveland is still the first in line to dethrone the champs if they get creative with the roster. LeBron and Kyrie are still the two most dangerous players against Golden State, and if they can figure out who the third star on this team can be, they will be ideally placed to knock off the Warriors. But that leads to another question that we’ll get to in a second.

How about the team’s that fell short of the Finals? Boston and San Antonio are the most logical roadblocks for Golden State and Cleveland in their respective conferences. There is a way for each team to make a move towards a title.

The Celtics own the top pick in the draft and have possibly the best cap situation in the entire league. Brad Stevens is on his way to being on par with Steve Kerr and Greg Popovich among the coaching elite. Boston also has attractive assets between draft picks and players with team-friendly contracts that could aid their quest to acquiring a superstar. The problem though, general manager Danny Ainge seems content to play the long game to get to the mountaintop.

San Antonio arguably could have defeated Golden State with a healthy Kawhi Leonard, but time is not on their side at the moment. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli are each in the final stage of their career. Retirement seems imminent for the pair of longtime Spurs, and replacing them won’t be an easy task. LaMarcus Aldridge hasn’t been the type of star that San Antonio had hoped he would be either. Rumors have put the Spurs in the hunt to acquire Chris Paul, but that would mean gutting a portion of the team to do so. Regardless, San Antonio always has a way to be among the best teams in the league with Popovich on the sidelines.

Houston leads the next tier of potential challengers to the Warriors. They chose to try to fight fire with fire, becoming a three-point centric team. Mike D’Antoni, who will probably win Coach of the Year, has already said that he wants to bring a more defensive focus next season in an attempt to be a better two-way team. Daryl Morey is one of the better executives in the league, which will keep them on the fringe of any trade talks. So don’t rule out the Rockets making some form of a splash this offseason to get closer to beating the champs.

Aside from those three teams, the other 25 teams in the league will have a lot of work to do to become relevant in the championship discussion. Milwaukee made some big strides this season, and the progression of the Greek Freak gives them a potentially top-ten player to build around long-term. Honestly, we are starting to get well past the 2018 NBA Finals outlook though so let’s table this for another time.

Are We Destined for Cleveland-Golden State IV?

That’s a hard one to answer just because the offseason hasn’t even started. The quick answer might be yes, barring injuries. We can all agree that Golden State should be there at the end (currently a -220 favorite to win the 2018 championship), but we’ll have to see what happens with Cleveland. Either way we are entering one of the most intriguing offseasons in recent years. The NBA now enters a prolonged arms race in an attempt to take out the Golden State “superteam.”

 

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Tour Talk” to preview the U.S. Open. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.