The 2026 NBA Playoffs hold little, if any, merit for the Boston Celtics at this point. Their focus is and should be on improving the team after the egg they laid two weeks ago. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers' advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals should catch Boston's eye, because their success could convince a certain man by the name of LeBron James to return for Round 3.
In the last year, there have been legitimate rumblings of the fallout between James and the Los Angeles Lakers. With the future Hall of Famer about to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time since he first joined the Celtics' rival in 2018, James may want one more title before he calls it quits.
Some time in the next century or so...
The Cavaliers, the team he started his career with, with whom he won his third NBA title with, who has been waiting for this exact moment, just made it to the NBA's penultimate round for the first time since his last season there.
Whether they beat the New York Knicks or not may not be relevant as simply getting as far as they have could be what convinces James to join them. That's trouble for the Celtics.
Even if James isn't the basketball titan he was, imagine him going to a team that probably needs him more than anyone. Better yet, they wouldn't depend on him to guide the offense with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. He'd single-handedly make them perhaps the toughest matchup for the Celtics.
Plus, with all the money James has made over the years, he could easily play for a veteran's minimum and still be very much set for life. LeBron loves a fairy tale ending, and becoming a Cavalier again, just as they had their most successful non-LeBron season this century, would be quite the story.
And would be quite the concern for Boston if it were to come true.
At the same time, LeBron leaving = Lakers get worse
The Celtics' competition in the East would get tougher, but they would be more than happy to see the Lakers lose someone as good as James, especially if it's for absolutely nothing in the end. As long as the Lakers don't get any further in the Western Conference, the Celtics will be happy about that.
Plus, James going to the Cavaliers would make them tougher but they wouldn't be the odds-on favorite in the East, let alone in the NBA. The Celtics have never let their competition getting tougher get to them in the Jays era.
What the Celtics would love most from LeBron would be either joining them (not going to happen) or retiring (also not happening), but they will gladly settle for him leaving the Lakers, even if it means their competition in the East gets a little stronger.
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