The NBA deadline finally came and went on Thursday, and although Anthony Davis stayed in New Orleans, a number of shake-ups still happened. LeBron James has pretty much applauded just how much teams on the East have been going for it with their trades in a talk with The Athletic.
"Those top teams in the East, yeah, they're going for it," LeBron said. "Toronto is going for it, Milwaukee's going for it, Philly. Boston believes they can do it, too. They know they ain't gotta go through Cleveland anymore."
He then got more specific (Cleveland is now the second-worst team in the conference): "Everybody in the East thinks they can get to the Finals because they ain't gotta go through me."
LeBron James' teams had been Eastern Conference champions since he joined the Heat in 2010. His reign only ended with his move west to the Lakers after he barely pulled a weak Cavaliers squad past a Kyrie Irving-less Celtics squad.
LeBron also commented on the Lakers not making a big trade. "There's nothing I need to get in this league that I don't already have," LeBron said Thursday. "So, everything else for me is just like icing on the cake.... Even though I love the process of everything that I go through to be able to compete every single night and put teams in position to compete for championships, there’s nothing that I’m chasing or that I feel I need to end my career on."
