LeBron James at the Lakers: 8 winners and 8 losers of the king's decision

LeBron James' journey to the Los Angeles Lakers took a long time. It took a lot of moving parts for LA to get the space and momentum needed to sign the King, even though the Sixers and Cavs did everything they could to try and, inevitably, fail to land his talents.

For anyone at the top of their respective field, their decisions affect everyone below. In choosing L.A., James inadvertently left a bunch of losers behind. Players, teams and owners have called on the best talents of the generation, and now the Cavs will have to pay

Across all the theaters, review the winners and losers of James' career decision [19659004]. Los Angeles Lakers

This could have been a hideous summer for L.A. after losing on Paul George, but everything was saved and then some. Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka and co. worked on the trade market to perfection for all this to happen. They dropped the contracts of Timofey Mozgov and Jordan Clarkson off the books, while sparing few assets to make room for James.

The transactions began a year ago and have proven to be great.

2. LaVar Ball

In a certain way. More. Warning.

3. Magic Johnson

He did what he wanted, and he did not have to quit his job.

4. LeBron James

He gets a new team, a large ceiling space and trumps around him to develop or convince management to look after other talents. James gets a do-over, and perhaps most importantly, he's no longer trapped on this horrible team of Cavs.

5. Fans Who Want More Challengers for the Warriors

Tired of seeing LeBron come short because he lacks talent? Welcome to a new age, and that will force LeBron to meet the Warriors before the finals.

6. Any team in the East Conference

The King is gone! That's your chance, Kyrie Irving.

7. Wine Distributors in Los Angeles

Your best customer just arrived in town.

8. The NBA

Whenever LeBron James changes team, it 's a good deal, and when he leaves for the Los Angeles Lakers of all the franchises, it' s the l 's. MONEY. Jersey sales, ticket prices, fans attention, competitiveness, television ratings … everything is going up. The league is richer when the Lakers are good.

Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images

] 1. Cleveland Cavaliers

Their generational talent has disappeared and left behind a huge mess. In its current iteration, the Cavs will have trouble making the playoffs, and they have little strength or direction for its future. The payroll is filled with ugly contracts, and if the team does not pay attention, it could lose its first and second round picks next year (the first-round pick of Cavs 2019 is top- 10 protected, otherwise Hawks.)

Let's look at the ugly payroll above. Over the next two years, the team owes $ 37 million to George Hill, $ 30 million to J.R. Smith, $ 25 million to Jordan Clarkson, $ 50 million to Kevin Love and $ 36 million to Tristan Thompson. Dan Gilbert

For all the above reasons, Gilbert's team has gone from being a perennial finalists to shit, fast. Although he had the best talent for touching an NBA TWICE for 11 seasons, he only got one title and saw the player leave of his own accord each time. James' teams have never been structured to meet his needs, and now the chances of remedying them are exhausted.

3. Isaiah Thomas

From the Celtics star, to be traded against Kyrie Irving, to fail as LeBron's teammate, to exile to the Lakers at the trade deadline, to be fired from Los Angeles by James, it was a bad thing for the computer

4. Houston Rockets

First, they lost Trevor Ariza the first night of the free agency, and now LeBron James enters the Western Conference. Three is now a party, and Houston seems weaker than it was a season ago. Will they get closer to the final at the time of James Harden?

Golden State Warriors

LeBron is armed with ceiling space, new talent and a desire to win again in a cool environment. James wants so much to beat this team that he will hit a wall when things go wrong.

6. Philadelphia 76ers

They lost on Paul George, a Kawhi deal is not yet in sight, and now LeBron James was pushing them away. They had a meeting with James, but it was just a formality. Now, this tweet from Joel Embiid looks bitter.

7. San Antonio Spurs

Any leverage that they once had in a Kawhi Leonard exchange with the Lakers left. It turns out that James' commitment was not based on the fact that L.A. already had another superstar already lined up. San Antonio can not use the despair of L.A. as a way to send a godfather offer their way.

L.A. There's no need to do anything radical to secure Leonard, either. James remains for at least three years independently, and Leonard still wants to go to L.A.

8. Kevin Love

Someone saves this man. He is trapped.