In the wake of the Cavs winning an NBA Championship, I have found myself pondering the implications of the infamous Decision that LeBron made six years ago. At the time, The Cavs were stuck in a rut. They had been bounced from the playoffs for two consecutive years without even making it to the championship round. They had an aging, and somewhat dysfunctional roster full of average players and guys on their last leg. Thinking back on that roster, the Cavs had Shaq, Z, Anthony Parker, and Antawn Jamison who would all retire in the next few years. Chronic underachiever Mo Williams, and a (literal) M-Fer in Delonte West. And a handful of average-at-best role players in Booby Gibson, J.J. Hickson, and our beloved floppy-haired raggedy-Andy Varejao. The team was cap-strapped and had very few resources in the way of draft picks. At the time, I remember hating LeBron for leaving, but looking back on that roster makes me realize that team was going no where fast. 

So my question is, does last Sunday ever happen if Lebron doesn't leave? Was the Decision actually a... good thing? 

LeBron leaving flipped the Cavs into tank-mode. Once he left, we began dumping all our geriatrics and gathering future draft picks, lottery balls, and cap space. We were able to turn those picks into Kyrie and Tristan, key cogs to our championship team. We also gathered Waiters, Bennett, Zellers, and Wiggins. Most of these were terrible draft choices, especially for how high we drafted them, but we were able to trade them and other future picks/dead bodies for guys like JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Mozzy-Wozzy, and Kevin Love. Because of the decision, we were able to get the guys we needed to lure LeBron back and then surround him with a team that I don't believe we ever could, had he decided to stay with us all those years ago. 

I've been thinking about this for the last two days and I am interested to hear your opinions. So what do you think, looking back in hindsight, was the decision actually a positive for our team and city?